Observations From the Spectrum

Should we have to protect our borders? Sure. One way to protect it is through how we welcome others into our community.

Sometime and somewhere about 4000 years ago someone thought that treating others like you was a needed idea to bring into the consciousness of the human condition and communities. Over time, this concept has been accepted and taught worldwide as the Golden Rule and nearly accepted across religions, governments, politics and any other commonly constructed border.

Over the same period of time there have been moments in history in which one person has gone against another people believing themselves to be better or that the other is subhuman. This is the usual justification of genocide and/or slavery. Genocide kills the other. Slavery uses the other for production. Examples are far and wide from Nazi Germany to the Rohingya Muslims to the land grab of the Americas to the enslaved to build nations and landmarks like the USA and Egypt’s Pyramids. None of this is new.

So why is it that there are some that can justify hurting their neighbors? The simple reason would be that we are human based on the human condition, a species that will make mistakes. The more complicated and/or sadder reason is that when some get some wealth or power, they get addicted to it and can’t stop taking and in turn create systems that ensure that those like them will continue to have power.

Anyone who has traveled to Greece or any point further East and studied a basic framework of history can attest that the world then is not the world we have now. Our beliefs and knowledge  were different and as we have evolved and learned, some things have changed while some things have remained the same. Evil may or may not exist. I am not God. Addiction does and it manifests itself in many ways. Drugs. Sex. Money. Power. Violence. Hate.

So if 4000 years ago we understood that having a clear sense of what connects us is important, then maybe we need a refresher course to relearn the ‘Golden Rule’ and to make sure that those that govern us have an interest in abiding by it. If not, we should remove them from office and make conditions for their followers who follow. Hate is a very easy emotion to allow us to drive us. Love, compassion, empathy and care of others takes work. Let’s stop giving power to those that believe their hate is worth working for.