Us vs. Them

Why is it so hard for us to move forward? “Us” as in society. “Forward” as in living in a time of equality, equity, and fairness.

Why is it difficult for us to acknowledge the existence of each other? “Acknowledge” as in acceptance and recognition. “Existence” as in reality of today’s demographic landscape of America.

How did we fail in teaching tolerance? “We” as in humanity. “Tolerance” as in the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.

Each day I wake up to another round of this bitter feud. I gain more disgust instead of appreciation, and I am reminded of why it is so hard for us to move forward; why it is too difficult for us to acknowledge one another. It’s because there is far more hate than love being shared in the world.

“All we need is love, love is all we need.” – Beatles

Don’t get me wrong. I chose my profession. I chose to walk this path, one sunny California day when I turned in my yellow slip of declaring my major at the university. I chose politics, and despite the amount of fighting and stalemates with the opposite party and within our own political party, I still choose politics. (More on that later.) Nevertheless, when people critique each other’s views with words like imbecile, pathetic, and ignorant, and when people decide that they need to resort to violence, I can only conclude that we are more inclined to hate each other than to love each other. We would rather knock each other down to get to the top of the hill, than to help each other reach there. It’s disheartening.

I know I’m just as guilty for feeling that hate. But rather than turning to dragging people through the mud, I’ve taken that hate and turned it into fuel. Fuel for me to do better. Fuel for me to work harder with my peers. Fuel for me to find the solutions. Fuel for me to love. MLK Jr. said it best when he said,”Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Today, I’m declaring enough is enough. There is no “us vs. them” mentality when it comes to creating a future for our nation. There is only “E Pluribus Unum”…

Out of many, one.

One nation.
One human race.
One future.

Out of many, one.

‘Til the next time.
– E