Now, I know what you are wondering. “Shopping carts? What do they have to do with society?” Well, hear me out, because shopping carts can be a status marker for how society is evolving.
Self-governance is defined as “having control or rule over oneself,” which seems like a simple thing. Self-governance is something one does every day. Waking up and driving to work is self-governance, right? How about taking a shower before heading to bed or when you wake up is also self-governance? No, none of those things are self-governance.
Now, you may ask, “Well, how are those things not self-governance? I am choosing to control myself.” In the simplest of ways, yes, you are controlling yourself; you do choose to wake up and drive to work and you do choose to shower to keep yourself clean. However, if you did not do these things, there would be consequences from outside sources. If you don’t wake up and drive to work, you risk the possibility of getting fired or getting written up. The same goes for showering. Yes, it is your choice to shower. However, if you did not choose to shower, your friends might ridicule you for how you smell or your family might comment on how dirty you look.
Self-governance isn’t as simple as it seems. Another example is the “love yourself” statement commonly made today. Many people today misunderstand the word “love,” thinking it means do whatever you want. However, loving yourself does not mean giving into every desire you have, even if its unhealthy. In fact, to “love yourself” more often means to deny desires that may be unhealthy or unnecessary for you in favor of what is good.
Self-governance is, in layman’s terms, integrity or controlling oneself to do the right thing when no one is watching. So, how does the shopping cart come into play? The shopping cart is the perfect litmus test for whether a person has the ability to self-govern. See, to put the cart away is simple, easy, convenient and, unless you are in a dire emergency, you have time to put it away. On top of that, we all understand that putting away the shopping cart is the proper thing to do.
At the same time, it is not illegal to abandon the shopping cart. There will be no consequences from anyone for not returning your cart. This is how the shopping cart shows the status of society. No one will punish you for not returning your cart; no one is going to hurt you, hunt you, attack you or cause problems. You must return your shopping cart of your own free will simply because it’s the right thing to do. This shows you are self-governing by doing the good and kind thing, even though there is no consequence for not doing so and even though no one is watching.