In her book "It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Our Children Teach Us", Hillary Clinton wrote that people outside of our nuclear family have a role in - as well as an impact on - our children. The reality of course, is that this is true for all of us. No man is an island, the saying goes, and for good reason. We are all humans and we all interact and create impacts in various ways on those around us.

I was reminded of this over the past weekend, when the DC area got nearly 2 feet of snow, breaking a December record. In our little "village", people were out shoveling snow, helping one another. Our next door neighbor helped us and we helped them. The people of the neighborhood were all shoveling a part of the road that the snow plows hadn't cleared. It was an amazing display of people working together for the common good. The younger and healthier helped those that were older and less able to do physical labor.

Sometimes, though, it takes more than a village; sometimes it takes a city. Most cities have some form of mass transit, most likely buses. Some larger cities like DC, NYC, Atlanta, Chicago have subways. This type of convenience and traffic-reducing benefit would be impossible or absurd at a smaller village level. Through taxes and fares, the people of the city pool their money to provide a service that benefits everyone that lives there.

Sometimes, though, it takes more than a city; sometimes it takes a whole county. This is especially true when there are several small cities or villages in a county. The people of the county can pool their resources via taxes and fees to provide county libraries and school systems for their residents. They can provide for a county sheriff system to intervene when disputes occur between cities.

Sometimes, though, it takes more than a county; sometimes it takes a state. At the state level, the money collected via taxes can provide for state programs like colleges. It can maintain interstates that span multiple counties. By pooling resources at the state level, the wealthier counties can help carry the weight of the poorer counties for the benefit of all. This is especially important for areas where certain industries have been the main source of income, and those industries are no longer viable. When properly managed, the state can provide a cushion for those poorer areas.

Sometimes, though, it takes more than a state; sometimes it takes a whole country. This includes the obvious like resolving inter-state disputes, and regulating inter-state commerce, but it includes maintaining the health and welfare of all citizens in the state. The health care bill is a prime example of this. If everyone in the collected states chips in what they can, then everyone benefits. It would be impossible for every state to provide the same level of coverage for health care. It would result in a patchwork of coverage levels and costs, varying from state to state. Instead, everyone in the country gets access to the same blanket of coverage. Despite the ideology of libertarians and conservatives, the basics (such as food, shelter, and health care) are too important to leave to the states, because some states are unable or unwilling to manage this for the good of the states' citizens. Therefore, the country as a whole must collect the monies and manage the programs.

Sometimes, though, it takes more than a country; sometimes it takes a whole planet. This became clear after WWII. Various groups (like NATO and the UN) were created to help prevent wars from escalating to that scale. Financial aid to poor countries, or countries devastated by climate changes or events, or war could not be done effectively without countries working together. The recent pollution control pact reached in Copenhagen is the sort of thing that requires the various countries on this planet to cooperate for the betterment of all. Pollution and greenhouse gasses know no boundaries, so we must all work together to reduce their production.

Whether we work together as a village, or a city, or a county, or a state, or a country, or a planet - we must work together and pool our resources, whether that be money or manpower, to make this world and our individual and collective lives the best that they can be.