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Why Can't We All Get Along?

By: Gustavo Diaz
Taken From: http://blog.gustavodiaz.com

People these days are so divided. If not by religion than politcal beliefs, race, gender, or social class. Whether it be East versus West, Catholic versus Jew, Democrat versus Republican, why must we be so divided. Lets say your Christian, then you should get along with other Christians, right? Wrong, there are over 177,000 denominations of the Christian faith that even they fight amongst each other. Why, as a people, do we look at each other and find all the superficial and subtle differences between us then make them into barriers that prevent us from truly loving and accepting one another. Why, if we're all human must we be separated and divided?

Why is Love so difficult and hate so convenient? Why must we try so hard to find reasons to dislike or hate each other? Sure, we have the media constantly glorifying all the different niches and differences that our society harbors. Kids playing in a sand box don't make distinctions based on political alignment or religion, they just play and have fun. Why? Because they haven't yet been trained to spot the diferrences between them and the rest of the world. Why does the innoncence of childhood have to end? I remember when I could play with toys for hours and there was this whimsical delight to it. Now, when I pick up a couple of X-Men toys I don't even know what to do with them. I don't think we lose the fun of being a child, I think we throw it away. It's in middle school that we start to split off into groups and social classes. The rich kids, the jocks, the cool kids, the emu kids, the geeks, nerds, and losers in between. A kid see's another kid and you know what he sees? Another kid. When an adult see's another adult and you know what we see? A thug, a freak, a staunch republican, a minority, an atheist. These aren't who we truly are. It's merely labels that society places onto us, and who it benefits the most are the companies that want to be able to plug us into demographics so they can precisely target their advertising to us. And for what reason? Money.

Money. Money. Money. My favorite line about money is from the movie Blow, where his dad tells him "Money isn't real George, it only feels that way." That line couldn't ring any truer. It's just a piece of paper and it's not even backed by anything of real value. We used to have the gold standard where your $1 bill would entitle you to one dollars worth of gold. Gold has real value, going back to the BC era. You take gold anywhere in the world today and you'll get money from it. But the dollar is only based how much dollars are in circulation which in turn is reflects our economic climate. If America were to suddenly close up shop all those dollars you would have are worth nothing. Truly nothing. Kids would be drawing pictures of Sponge Bob Square Pants on hundred dollars bills for amusement.

Yet money is so important to people that we're willing to kill other people for it. I don't see any difference from the common thug that shoots you in order to steal your wallet or a unscrupulous company like McDonalds that pumps their food full of extremely unhealthy additives because something healthier cost more. Anybody who places a higher value on something that isn't real over something that is real, like us HUMANS, is the epitome of evil. Yet we trust McDonalds implicity. Like dying rich people always say, if you don't have your health you don't have anything. Yet with every bite of food we eat we are trusting these companies with our health. Why? Do you honestly believe these people care the least about your health? Sure, you may not die by eating one Whopper, but that would be bad for businesses. A dead customer is not a repeat customer. What about being fat, greasy, out of shape and ugly? Doesn't that bother you? Doesn't it bother you that your so freaking lazy and out of shape that when you pull up to a store you'll drive around in circles looking for that perfect spot near the entrance just so you can avoid having to walk an extra one hundred feet?!

Wars are about money. Laws are about money. Taxes are about money. The only reason we live is to work, and make money-- for other people. What is there to do for a young person in the San Fernando Valley after 10 pm on a Wednesday? Nothing. There's practically nothing to do. Everything that "seems'" interesting cost money and is only open till 9 or 10. Our whole society, our world country is based off business. Sometimes at night I just want to take a walk, but not on a sidewalk because some drunk driver could kill me. I want to climb a hill and see the shimmering lights of the city. But where can you park? Nowhere, because there are No Parking signs everywhere. What about if I leave my car at home and just walk there? Then I'm most likely trespassing on somebody else's property and will have the police come and arrest me. People say America is free, but do they even know what freedom is? The only thing we're free to do is make money and kick people down who don't have as much money as you. The disparity between upper class and middle class is not a river, it's an OCEAN. If you weren't born into extreme opulent wealth you can never really hope to attain the level of wealth that some people have. Wealth is the collection of things, from money, power, to possesions. And this wealth is only going to follow in it's lineage, and most certainly won't be handed over to you.