Faggot, slut, nigger, terrorist, bitch, hobo, them, us, Sikh, Hindu, Punjabi, atheist, Christian, American, patriot, Sunni, Shia, infidel, Singh, Khalsa, Jatt, etc. We all use them, and though they’re generally used to label fellow human beings, they do a wonderful job of making them seem a little less like us.
Those minor changes in perception of others go a long way. Couple that with our general inclination to be around people who look, think, talk, walk, and act like us and agree with us, and we create a collection of imaginary lines, making for some very real segregation.
A lot of people think this is just an accident that can be remedied with some educational videos and a couple of peace signs, but that’s the furthest thing from the truth. Divide and conquer has been a tactic used for centuries to keep things in order. The news does an amazing job of teaching us who to fear and who to hate, and we do a horrible job of asking ourselves, “Should I be buying all this?”
I saw this amazing speaker, and he said something fascinating: “KNOWING is out of style, and BELIEVING is in fashion. We need to bring KNOWING back in style.” We need not confuse what we know with what has been poured into our brains over and over by our parents, society, media, and other influences. I only came to this realization after working with kids and watching them regurgitate their parents’ teachings as if they were programmed out of a box.
Every label we hold, every label we stick on others, every label we judge is not real. They’re not real, but they’re effective. These labels do a wonderful job of making the “others” less like us and easier to care less about.
We tend to care about those we see ourselves in the most. Though masked as compassion, it’s really a morbid self-interest. It’s psychology, though, and it applies to all of us; so it’s nothing to thumb our noses at, but it is something we’re better off recognizing.
I’m not an idealist. The practice of labeling won’t be going away anytime soon. However, if we know we can shed one or two and open ourselves up to those we view as different, I promise, with every molecule of my being, our human experience will be that much richer.