As an American, I've been fortunate to have travelled to several countries and to meet their people and become aware of their customs. And the conclusion I've reached is that there are good people and bad people in every country, and that they occur in roughly the same proportion regardless of the specific geography. In other words, the distinctions people draw based on their differences, whether racial or ethnic or cultural or nationalistic or religious, are essentially baseless.
We're all fellow inhabitants of one planet among billions scattered around the universe, and that distinction seems to have been lost or severely discounted.
On a microcosmic scale, I can focus on the differences between me and my next-door neighbor. I can be resentful of him or her based on the size of his or her house, or the make and model of the car he or she drives. On a machrocosmic scale, I can look down on people from other countries based on the differences in our cultures or our societies.
But we are all people, and despite the distinctions we draw among each other, we're much more similar than distinct.
Let's all try to accentuate our commonalities over our differences, and we may discover ways to come together as a global community.
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"I am an agnostic; I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of."
Clarence Darrow |