Of course a certain amount of dependence on others is not only good, but necessary. Children must be dependent on their parents; and the weak must depend on the strong, and the sick on the well. And in a sense, all of us, even the most independent and self-reliant, are dependent on one another. At any rate, in civilized society, it is impossible for anyone to make all the things he needs. No man can produce all the food and clothes he wants. He can only produce one or two things, and must get all the others by exchange or purchase from others, who are doing the same thing. So in a community everyone is dependent on the service of others, while he himself contributes to the needs of others.