(6 minute read)

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(From the previous post: This country has always had many groups of people with divergent viewpoints.

Politically, there are to two major but very different ideologies on what these United States should look like.

By default those ideologies define what we think it means to be human.

There are those that think democracy is “of the people, for the people, and by the people.”

Then there are those that think democracy is made up of an elite class that has the right to enslave others with their ideals.

We have been here before and can draw reference from those prior examples.

That division has a long and storied history in the states.

To be sure, it dates back to a time when Colonials refused to recognize the English monarchy.

But we only need to go back a century and a half earlier in relating to recent divisions.

Why Are Humans So Cruel?

Conventional wisdom says our cruelness comes from the idea that we like to think highly about ourselves.

Labeling human beings for the purpose of dehumanizing them is one of the many reckless ways we humans try.

“If I can make you look less than me, by comparison, I can feel better about myself.”

How bad can we treat others to make ourselves feel superior?

The default example of this ultimate cruelty is the Nazi’s and the Holocaust.

The language used to dehumanize is myriad.

“They are rapists, drug users, AIDS ridden, poisoning the blood of our nation, not humans and are animals, and they are eating the pets of their neighbors,” tells us less about the those being dehumanized and more about the accusers spewing the hatred.

How can anyone read the above paragraph and think that this is an example of being fully human? How can anyone excuse this type of inhumane behavior?

Anyone in agreement with this vile, putrid, hatred is living in a different world than you and I.

This is behavior that goes beyond arguing whether people are entitled to live with separate “facts and beliefs.”

Unable to recognize the irony, this bigotry, racism, and xenophobia comes from a people who will do anything to debase the humanness of others.

The irony? …they already think the group is as human as they are.

Calling them “animals” or anything “less than human?”

The fact is we only use that type of language against other groups of humans.

Animals can’t be humiliated the way humans can be.

The next time you take a walk in the park try deriding the first squirrel that crosses your path.

Despite the insults hurled at them, the animal will continue to have a merry day. With no periods of self-doubt and no losing sleep over feeling humiliated.

They can say all they want that a group is less than human.

But they are.

And they know that and all the hatred they spew doesn’t change that fact.

What is their motivation to dehumanize?

To think highly of ourselves and they must not feel good enough about themselves.

If one has a healthy amount of self-esteem there is no need to demonize others.

There are many ways that legitimate validation can be experienced.

One way is by being recognized for helping others by using our status, resources, and accomplishments.

Conversely, an illegitimate validation is to psychologically and then, physically, dominate people with words/actions of hatred, and violence.

One is a constructive democratic belief and principle and the other is a destructive and anything but a democratic principle.

What motivates people to choose the destructive path?

In a word, fear.

“You will not replace us,” was the mantra in the Charleston, Va. white supremacy march in August of 2017.

If, “you will not replace us” is not a declaration of fear, what is?

It is a declaration only made by human beings to other human beings.

Cockroaches will outlive and replace us after, say, nuclear annihilation. But we aren’t chanting in protest for fear of them replacing us now.

Are We Doomed?

Is there hope?

There are many ways we can point to the human race and declare that WE ARE GETTING BETTER.

As Dr. Stephen Pinker points out there is hope for a better world given how far we have come.

Again, hope, but progress is s-l-o-w.

It is obvious from the past presidential election that acknowledging the humanity in others isn’t enough.

More than half of the electorate voted for presidential candidates that recognized the humanity in others.

But, one candidate, a convicted felon, openly dehumanized just about everybody and anybody. Yet, he was still elected, again, with a popular vote razor thin margin of only 1.5%.

If Dr. Pinker is right, eventually we will recognize and respect the human dignity in each other. Future generations will also be amazed at a time when a people, full of dread and fear, affected us all..

To arrive at that point we will need to become better people. There are all sorts of ways we can get there.

They tell us that this election was about making a change. It is yet to be determined how and what kind of change is coming.

Change is good. We are not the same nation we were when we started nearly 250 years ago.

Change means we need good ideas and good ideas are hard to come by. Better understanding and acceptance of democratic principles will bring a more hopeful future than one without them.

If this democracy is to survive then we will need to be less concerned with individual or group power.

We will need to learn what it means to insist on the primacy of human dignity.

We will need to reject the hateful rhetoric of the demagogues allowing their petty complaints to fall on deaf ears.

We will need to ostracize their abhorrent behavior until they feel the shame they so readily deserve.

Can we do this?

Given our history it is only right to say we have the potential and power to become that society.

Will we?

I can’t say for certain that it will save us from any of the apocalyptic endings we have conjured up.

The bomb? The climate? Pandemics? These or any other hidden calamity may very well mean that the cockroaches will finally rule the earth.

But our odds of surviving until then are better off if we do.

What will it take?

Only one generation. A generation that rejects anything less than recognizing the human dignity in others. A generation that is committed to giving humanity those better odds.

Only then can it be said that we are committed to living life as fully human beings.

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