My "thought" of the day

Hi all--now that I officially signed up on our blog, I thought I'd try and be proactive by starting a conversation. I got to thinking this week about 'racism' and 'hatred,' two entities that aren't entirely different. Any "ism" as I would call it, be it "racism" or "sexism" is a form of hate. You wouldn't believe how many people today, in our digitally-driven, smart-phone carrying society are still racist, sexist, whatever-ist. In other words, many people are filled with hate.

Hate--it's such a strong word, but it is the blackest quality our society has. Hate, in my opinion, is a disease. Combine lack of knowledge, lack of empathy, and the inability to examine oneself; and you've got the recipe for hate. Why is it that we cannot get over ourselves, so we can help somebody else?

We all make mistakes and pre-judge others before we've truly gotten to know them. The difference between a hateful person and one who loves others is that the latter knows that what they are saying or doing is wrong...and thus, tries to change it. Others ignore any negative side effects of their bitterness or hatred, choosing to continue on this destructive path.

I was reading an article in Rolling Stone this week (please note, I do not endorse this magazine in any way, shape or form, but I DO enjoy some of their political/pop culture articles.) written by Matt Taibbi, an opinionated, at times venomous reporter who covers the politics beat. In his most recent article titled, "Full Metal McCain," he illustrates the June 3rd speech McCain made in New Orleans, amidst a swarm of supporters.

Though Taibbi can carry things a bit too far, a portion of his article really stuck out in my mind. Referring to a group of women he spoke to in the audience, he wrote:

Cindy Oestriecher, a McCain supporter who turned out for his speech in New Orleans, is stumped when I ask her for an example of Obama's lack of patriotism. "What was that thing about anti-American?" she asks a friend. "What were they referring to?"
"What thing?" asks the friend.

"People were talking about that thing, that anti-American thing," Cindy says, frowning.

"You mean about the flag, the thing on the Internet?" the friend replies.

"Yeah, I guess," says Cindy. "The anti-American thing."

"That bothers you?" I ask.

"Of course it does!"

"But you don't even know what it is," I say. "You just know that someone else said he was anti-American. You don't even know who it was that said it!"

She shrugs.

What's my point? We all know what the deal is. When it comes to presidential politics, you either are or you aren't. And Barack Obama aren't. If you can't grasp the simple math of that statement, you don't know much about elections in this country. It's not about the war, or the economy, or the faltering Republican brand, or any of that: This is about hate and fear, and a dark instinct in our blood going all the way back to Salem, and whether or not a desperately ambitious ex-heretic named John McCain can whip up a big enough mob in time to drown the latest witch. (taken from http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/21129038/full_metal_mccain)

Something about the last passage really got to me...partially because, I know its true. Democrat, Independent, or Republican...we all know what hate and racism smells, feels, hears, looks like. It's ugly. It's rampant. Even today. Just this week, I had a coworker tell me she would never vote for Barack Obama because he's Muslim and doesn't support our brave men and women in Iraq. I refrained from arguing for the sake of being professional whilst at work.

I won't even come out and say who I plan to vote for here. It's no one's business but mine. But, I will say that racism and a desire for segregation are still alive and well, and may very well be beliefs that a Fortune 500-broker with a Blackberry and leather briefase carries inside, not just your proverbial "back woods" redneck.