Okay. Where to start?
(audio version)
Here are the issues rolling around in my brain.
* All Lives Matter
* A Country Divided
* The political monopoly
Let's see if I can express myself in a fashion easy to follow.
"All Lives Matter" - the War of the Words:
Black lives matter vs All lives matter has been equated to ignoring a burning house: "My house is on fire." "All houses matter."
That comparison makes no sense to me. A more accurate interpretation is someone saying: "My purple house is on fire - my purple house needs attention."
And someone else replying "There are many houses on fire. They all need attention."
Sometimes, I admit it, I wish it was just one set of people with a definitive physical characteristic who was being oppressed, profiled, mistreated, bullied, wrongfully accused, and willfully slain. It would be so much easier, then, to know who to protect, who to guard, and (presumably) who the bad guys were.
But that is not the reality.
It doesn't matter what shade your skin is, what shape your eyes are, what tax bracket or zip code you are slotted in, what your labor is, or what spiritual rules you follow. If you live upon this planet, you have probably been harmed a time or two.
And if you are feeling harmed, it can feel even more harmful to hear "Black lives matter." Because it implies that only people who belong to that specific group are worthy of mattering. Only their suffering is true suffering; only their deaths are true deaths. They are the only ones who deserve to be helped.
But we are not groups. We are not governments and churches and societies and political parties and corporations and races and cultures. We are people. Individual. Unique. Alone.
As a happiness practitioner, I accept that people feel the need to band together for or against something in order to feel like they can survive, but, Ladies and Gentlemen, it has not improved any situation yet. Because here we are.
A "Country Divided"- as in separated into MANY parts:
An FB poster cited Obama as the cause for this division - and I disagree. I expect the African Americans, the American Indians, the LGBT Community, the Muslims, and the Asians all have examples of division in our past. Of course the Women have theirs. And let's not forget the Jews, the Pagans, or the indentured poor.
We have been a species divided since one being perceived difference and decided that difference was bad.
I don't know that America was ever truly whole; our Forefathers and Foremothers (meaning the leaders) were simply united AGAINST something.
And so they manipulated and compromised and created a country where "All men are created equal." And men, in the English language, stands for all human beings. And eventually, a form of democracy was founded in which we had a representative of this country, chosen by a majority vote.
Through the process of that election, some 200 years later, a Democratic President with dark skin was voted into office. Many who voted differently then chose to deride and insult the chosen head of their chosen country. They chose to behave as if the voices and opinions of over half the citizens didn't matter. In short, they chose to behave as if Democracy was no longer a viable form of government.
And I know that not all Democrats have black or brown skin. (And not all those with black or brown skin are Democrats.) So I don't know if the uncivil choices were about skin color, or political party, or the need for a scapegoat because it feels like we're in a downhill slide and we can't figure out how to stop it.
Maybe it's simply that people perceive our choices to be limited, and they only know how to behave based on what used to be.
It does feel like some people are trying to convince the rest of us that there are only two groups in America. National and Foreigners. Christians and non-Christians. Black and White. Us and Them. Democrats and Republicans. (Aren't there laws against monopolies? Oh, but since there's two, it's not really a monopoly. My bad!)
But, just like there isn't only one specific physical characteristic that is being oppressed, there aren't only two political options. There aren't only two options for anything. There is no Right and Wrong. There isn't even an Us and Them!
There is me and you and him and her and her and him and him and her and her and him and...
And we each have thoughts about what would work and what is right for Us All! But it's not right for us all, it's simply right for us each individually.
For me.
Which is what Democracy is supposed to be, I think. An agreement by all to live by the rules that the majority has chosen.
And no. These rules should not work against Blacks, homosexuals, foreigners, women, the Green party, non-Christians, or purple houses - whether or not they are on fire.
Neither should the rules favor them.
ALL lives matter.
All voices matter.
Each, individual person matters.
You matter.
I have pale, pinky white skin. I have blue eyes. I am female. I have a variety of medical challenges and a plethora of gifts and talents. I have a celtic american heritage; my current financial status is ambiguous; I identify with thespians and book worms and musicians and writers and spiritual leaders. I have theories about my past lives, but no proof. I have made decisions I am proud of, and ones that have helped me change.
But none of this is whoI AM.
I am Lila.
I am a one of a kind member of a diverse world.
And I matter.
Thank you, and I hope you have a great day!
-Lila
