Predicament of Human Incompetence 9
enɪng: “So long as you take our money, you do what we
want.” But in well-ordered families, that original rela-
tion of dependence ripens into a two-sided companionship,
even while the home ties are relied on for support. Life
begins to mean more in that “solidarity in joy, in sorrow, in
aspiration, in hope, in fear, which binds men to each other.”
For this bond unites us in interests we can share without
losing. No one tries to take from the other, dominate the
other, or use the other. It is real communion. It is the only
possible communism where private possessions become pub-
lic possessions in a shared life full of meaning.
★
This experience of community that does not interfere
with our freedom lies at the heart of the world problem
around which the present war is being fought. Hitler wants
community without freedom; we want both.
I have always noticed in talking with young people that
there is something inaccessible in each person that must
consent freely before there is any useful communication of
ideas. This core of freedom shows itself in discussion by a
perpendicular wrinkle just between the eyebrows. The
faintest flicker of that scowling line is a sure sign that noth-
ing is being accepted. Right there is the challenging claim
of another mind to be understood. Only as I stop trying to
force ideas and yield to that claim for understanding, can I
expect my claim to an understanding to be recognized. When
the recognition is mutual, we get together in a shared mean-
ing where we both are free. We affect each other merely
by seeking to comprehend each other, not by trying to im-
prove each other. When I see things from his point of view
and he sees something of my outlook, we grow in grace and
wisdom without either surrendering his sense of originality
and independence.
This unique world of community without domination is