I really don't need to say this, but: there's a lot of awful stuff in the world right now, and a lot of it is humanity's own fault. Violence, hatred, oppression, denial; these are not forces of nature. They don't have to exist, though sadly, they may never completely disappear. However, there is a very simple way to ease the pain we often inflict on each other: just treat each other like human beings.
That's all there is to it. Just recognize that other people are people too. Acknowledge their humanity. I think that's really the sentiment at the heart of the "golden rule," do unto others as you would have them do unto you (a variation of which is found in many religious texts). Throughout history, tyrannical powers have tried to justify their oppression by pretending that those they oppress aren't people, that they're subhuman. It's happened in our own country, through slavery and discrimination. Racism is one example, but there are others, some involving gender. For instance, some people believe it's okay to treat women a certain way because they're "women," as if that somehow means "not a person." Instead, if you're not sure how to act toward a lady, just ask yourself: would I want to be whistled at every time I walked down a street? Would I want to be harassed or assaulted? If no, then don't do that. If yes, well...you should get that looked at.
I know this seems like a pretty elementary lesson in decency, but I think most of us can agree that we all need a refresher course on the golden rule (myself included). There's also another step in acknowledging someone's person-hood: recognize their complexity. Everyone's complicated, so much that it's impossible to lump people into broad, two-dimensional categories without robbing them of some of their humanity. You can't assume that one person in a certain group has exactly the same preferences and experiences as another member of the group, or else you turn them into a concept rather than a human. Not all home-schooled kids have fundamentalist parents. "Born This Way" is not every gay person's favorite song. And not all people who eat quinoa are smug hipsters (though I have to admit, the word "quinoa" sounds pretty smug. Say it a few times like a smart-alec little kid and you'll see what I mean).
Again, I think most people reading this understand these points, but it never hurts to remind ourselves of the most basic form of being nice (I definitely need that sometimes). I've been having scanner problems this week, so I don't have a cartoon, but I'll leave you with a quote from a cartoon character. Plankton once told Spongebob, "Only aggressive people conquer the world!" Then Spongebob posed the question, "What about aggressively nice people?" Also, here's another cute picture of my dog:
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| He took my spot. |
