Category: Wisdom

Sean Ono Lennon:

Tired of this current phenomenon of dehumanizing groups of ppl or ppl we believe represent groups of ppl. Everyone is doing it, the left, the right, the far left, the far right, the dumb, the brilliant, the midwits—we all do it sometimes, but it has to stop.

As we sit here deep in the trenches of our orchestrated polarization, it is now that we must stand up and unplug from the mob mentality and remember that human beings matter more than opinions.

I mean the smartest person ever said he knew nothing, so we can’t pretend we know enough to judge someone because they think or look or speak differently than we do. Give them the benefit of the doubt unless they are literally mid kick to your head.

And maybe Socrates wasn’t the smartest person ever, but he was certainly one of them. My point is that HE was humble, and that means we all can be too.

And I know I said I don’t like governments and you could say ‘ha! they’re a group of ppl!’ but I didn’t mean I don’t like the people who comprise the govt. what I mean is that the concept of a government seems to either be fiction-meaning there is no government per se, just those w special rights, and those w out, (which doesn’t mean I hate groups like democrats or republicans or socialists or libertarians…because those groups are neither good nor bad, they’re just ideas)—OR that the concept of govt. is at least flawed from a moral perspective. Even in the best case it requires ‘special rights’ for ‘special people.’ Which is really just a way of describing a legal mafia. And maybe that IS the best we can do. I really don’t know.

Of course, I do personally prefer some of those ‘ideas’ to others. But as for the humans who identify with those groups, I judge them as individuals. Are they nice? Do they treat others w kindness? Can they laugh at themselves? That’s what matters to me.

We have plenty of historical monsters who represent all sides of the political spectrum, from fascists to communists, so it’s not so much about political leanings, it’s about how you live and treat others that makes you good or bad.

I feel like I may be only making enemies here but whatever. We have to give each other a break. None of us have solved the problems of humanity so let’s just step back a little, try and listen more and judge less.

Using migrants—human beings w families—as a political gotcha tool is not funny no matter how sound your logic or if you say ‘the other side does this other thing that justifies’ no it doesn’t. Nothing justifies using actual humans as a gotcha. It’s lives we’re talking about.

I just think the powers of division are finally splitting our society apart. Splitting us apart from each other and our humanity. And I’m sick of it. I’m pretty sure most everyone is.

So just don’t fall for the trap of being fomented into a state of unconsciousness where your amygdala shuts down your pre-frontal cortex and you start seeing strangers as non-human. That’s the beginning of the end. We just can’t let that happen. Period.

The idea itself that ‘the left do this’ and ‘the right do this’ is really just an illusion. Some people do things who identify with these abstract labels. Those people never represent everyone in that group. And the group itself is an imaginary construct.