An Open Letter to The American Public: Embrace Human Commonality
Whatever happened to the commonality of just being part of the human race? Not our color, gender, sexual preference, religion, political views, or favorite football teams. Simply accepting one another for who we are, not what we believe or affiliate with. Overcoming difference of opinion and collaborating is what built this country, and having the freedom to do so is what our military has fought to protect. Suddenly we are indicting, ridiculing, and/or fighting one another for having differing opinions or beliefs? Feels like we are regressing as a species vs. progressing and learning from past mistakes.
Remember, experiences lead to beliefs, beliefs lead to actions and actions lead to outcomes. Everyone has had different upbringings and life experiences, and those experiences have shaped their beliefs, so they believe them to their core. Just because your experiences have led you to different beliefs, does not make someone else’s any less valid or real.
By that same adage, fostering hate will only continue to shape divisive beliefs that further drive us apart. The only way to change our beliefs about one another is to alter the experiences we have with one another. Choose empathy instead of pride, inclusion instead of rejection, understanding over judgement.
Pause the rhetoric and partisan worship for a minute and remember we are all human first. You don’t see animals or insects behaving this way. They know that every member of their colony is valuable and vital to future success, and they only get there by working together.
*Imagine if just one ant decided not to work with the others just because they disagreed on the food source. Better yet, imagine what we could do if we set our differences aside and worked together, in spite of them.
Fellow human,
Aaron Arivett