I am not a white guy. I am not a teacher. I am not a libertarian. I am not a tennis coach.
However, my ancestors do come from Europe. I do teach seventh grade social studies for a living. Most of my political views tend to lean libertarian. And yes, in the spring and fall I help coach high school tennis.
Before you stop reading further wondering what the point of this blog is, I want to share with you a bold, provocative idea- individualism will save the world. At the very least, if we look at every human being through the lenses of individualism, the world would be a much, much better place. If we didn't lump people in groups to begin with, perhaps all the prejudice, discrimination, racism, and stereotyping that is associated with doing such a thing wouldn't exist at all.
I was at a diversity training recently at my school, where we were informed that it was not okay to label someone with a disability by their disability. For example, you do not call someone who has autism autistic. They are an individual with autism. The point is to not put emphasis on the disability to describe the person. Everyone has many abilities, and you should never describe an entire person by their disability. When I introduce my friend to new people, I don't immediately describe him as tone deaf. Sure my friend can't sing on key, but he also happens to be a great speaker. He also is really good at chess. And on and on. We all have disabilities. We all have abilities. No one is perfect.
I love that. I think it's the right direction to go. So why not go further? Why do we describe people as Caucasian or African American or Native American or Hispanic American or Asian American? Why do we describe people as Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Mormons, Baptists, or Evangelicals? Why are people labeled Americans, Canadians, French, Russian, or Brazilian? Why don't we just call someone a person who is of African descent, who is an American citizen, and whose religion is Islam?
Because that's a lot of words. Seriously, we would run out of breath. People love to simplify, and they love to categorize, because it makes things easier. People also love to lump people into groups. It starts with the natural desire to be with people who are similar to you. We are comfortable living close to and hanging out with people who are similar to us- people that share our religion, our political views, our lifestyle choices, and, quite frankly, people who look like us. There are studies that prove this.
But so what? There is just far too much emphasis on groups. Collectivism is hurting progress, not helping it. For example, let's look at the 2012 presidential election. When CNN and other media giants look at voters, they categorize them by skin color, religion...even gender. How do women vote? Seriously? You're trying to simplify and homogenize over half the population of the planet? When Mitt Romney panders in Florida, name-checking any Hispanic politician he can that he likes, he's looking for the "Hispanic vote." What the heck is the Hispanic vote? There are billions of so-called "Hispanics" in the world. Hispanics never fit into one nice, neat category. They are as diverse a group of people as any other group around the world. An uneducated person would hear "Hispanic" and think of one homogeneous group that always votes the same.
I believe racism, discrimination, prejudice, would almost disappear if collectivism disappeared. Think about it. Imagine you are child who grew up in a world without collectivism. You never witnessed a world where one person was ever lumped in a group. No one ever told you to watch out for certain people because they belonged to a certain group. Nor did they describe people to you according to who they associated with. You never saw special attention given to any group of people in books, on the radio, TV, or the internet. No one ever told you who to hang out with. No one ever told you to "not go to that neighborhood." No one ever told you that "those kind of people are different." No one ever told you that "we are the only ones who are right." All you ever knew was that humans were human. Other than that, it was complicated. You were exposed to many different kinds of people, but, first and foremost, you were taught that everyone was different, but everyone was the same.
Now, you meet someone knew. What are your preconceptions about this person? Wait a second...do you even have any?
By focusing on the content of one's character, and not by who that character associates with, the majority of problems humanity currently faces could be avoided. If you are skeptical thus far, it's hard to argue with the fact that there would probably be much less death and destruction in the world if humans just focused on each other, instead of focusing on each other's associated groups. Wars, after all, are not started by individuals...they are started by groups.
I am not a white guy. I am not a teacher. I am not a libertarian. I am not a tennis coach. I am an multifaceted, complex, unique individual. Please do not pigeonhole me into any particular group. I am just like Dr. Pepper, but I have more than 23 flavors. Sure I like to listen to indie music, but I also don't wear trendy, tightly-fitted clothing. Sure I am from the Midwest, but my views aren't necessarily "conservative." Labeling is fine, but it should do just that- label. It should never define a person. Because that's who we, yes, each and every one of us, is...a person, and that's the only thing we should ever call each other.
However, my ancestors do come from Europe. I do teach seventh grade social studies for a living. Most of my political views tend to lean libertarian. And yes, in the spring and fall I help coach high school tennis.
Before you stop reading further wondering what the point of this blog is, I want to share with you a bold, provocative idea- individualism will save the world. At the very least, if we look at every human being through the lenses of individualism, the world would be a much, much better place. If we didn't lump people in groups to begin with, perhaps all the prejudice, discrimination, racism, and stereotyping that is associated with doing such a thing wouldn't exist at all.
I was at a diversity training recently at my school, where we were informed that it was not okay to label someone with a disability by their disability. For example, you do not call someone who has autism autistic. They are an individual with autism. The point is to not put emphasis on the disability to describe the person. Everyone has many abilities, and you should never describe an entire person by their disability. When I introduce my friend to new people, I don't immediately describe him as tone deaf. Sure my friend can't sing on key, but he also happens to be a great speaker. He also is really good at chess. And on and on. We all have disabilities. We all have abilities. No one is perfect.
I love that. I think it's the right direction to go. So why not go further? Why do we describe people as Caucasian or African American or Native American or Hispanic American or Asian American? Why do we describe people as Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Mormons, Baptists, or Evangelicals? Why are people labeled Americans, Canadians, French, Russian, or Brazilian? Why don't we just call someone a person who is of African descent, who is an American citizen, and whose religion is Islam?
Because that's a lot of words. Seriously, we would run out of breath. People love to simplify, and they love to categorize, because it makes things easier. People also love to lump people into groups. It starts with the natural desire to be with people who are similar to you. We are comfortable living close to and hanging out with people who are similar to us- people that share our religion, our political views, our lifestyle choices, and, quite frankly, people who look like us. There are studies that prove this.
But so what? There is just far too much emphasis on groups. Collectivism is hurting progress, not helping it. For example, let's look at the 2012 presidential election. When CNN and other media giants look at voters, they categorize them by skin color, religion...even gender. How do women vote? Seriously? You're trying to simplify and homogenize over half the population of the planet? When Mitt Romney panders in Florida, name-checking any Hispanic politician he can that he likes, he's looking for the "Hispanic vote." What the heck is the Hispanic vote? There are billions of so-called "Hispanics" in the world. Hispanics never fit into one nice, neat category. They are as diverse a group of people as any other group around the world. An uneducated person would hear "Hispanic" and think of one homogeneous group that always votes the same.
I believe racism, discrimination, prejudice, would almost disappear if collectivism disappeared. Think about it. Imagine you are child who grew up in a world without collectivism. You never witnessed a world where one person was ever lumped in a group. No one ever told you to watch out for certain people because they belonged to a certain group. Nor did they describe people to you according to who they associated with. You never saw special attention given to any group of people in books, on the radio, TV, or the internet. No one ever told you who to hang out with. No one ever told you to "not go to that neighborhood." No one ever told you that "those kind of people are different." No one ever told you that "we are the only ones who are right." All you ever knew was that humans were human. Other than that, it was complicated. You were exposed to many different kinds of people, but, first and foremost, you were taught that everyone was different, but everyone was the same.
Now, you meet someone knew. What are your preconceptions about this person? Wait a second...do you even have any?
By focusing on the content of one's character, and not by who that character associates with, the majority of problems humanity currently faces could be avoided. If you are skeptical thus far, it's hard to argue with the fact that there would probably be much less death and destruction in the world if humans just focused on each other, instead of focusing on each other's associated groups. Wars, after all, are not started by individuals...they are started by groups.
I am not a white guy. I am not a teacher. I am not a libertarian. I am not a tennis coach. I am an multifaceted, complex, unique individual. Please do not pigeonhole me into any particular group. I am just like Dr. Pepper, but I have more than 23 flavors. Sure I like to listen to indie music, but I also don't wear trendy, tightly-fitted clothing. Sure I am from the Midwest, but my views aren't necessarily "conservative." Labeling is fine, but it should do just that- label. It should never define a person. Because that's who we, yes, each and every one of us, is...a person, and that's the only thing we should ever call each other.
