I am a Human. What are you?

Everyday, wherever you search, you will see an individual labeling their self or someone else.
Gay or Straight, Christian or Muslim, Democrat or Republican, Fellow countryman or not, Pro Choice or Anti Abortion, Feminist or bigot, racist or saint, left wing or right wing, the list goes on. (please feel free to point out other obvious ones.)

I, personally, believe that every individual in the world has an equal right and opportunity as the person next to him. I don't believe our rights are given to us by a government's document. I believe that the Bill of Rights/Constitution (Sorry, I am American so I use these as examples) only state the obvious rights we have had since birth. With that said, when I see these labels or classifications that individuals put on themselves, it makes me want to "smack my head."

I do not understand or see how we can ever have a society that is peaceful and respectful and treats all citizens as equals if everyone classifies themselves as different - not equal.

Now, I understand that people ARE different and that is how it is. I, personally, never strive to be like my neighbor or think that I should have the same life as everyone else. But when groups of individuals come together and demand that they be treated like an "equal", it makes one scratch their head and wonder, "what are you, if not human?"

I go throughout my day and I hear my coworkers/friends/family/strangers classify themselves as something but I never hear one of them say, "I am a person. I am an individual. I am a human."

We, as a society, can never write a law that will make someone treat you as an equal. It will never happen. BUT you can make a difference by starting with yourself. Treat yourself as an equal. Don't label yourself as something different and expect special treatment because of your label. Take responsibility that you are a human on this planet who is in control of your thoughts and actions. Don't fuel the fire of division by arguing which side you are on.
There are much larger issues that our planet/society/civilization need to address and fix to ensure that us, HUMANS, can continue to live for many more centuries. I would like to hope that we could live our future years with peace. A peace that we can find by living in harmony with the many different things that make up life.

DROP YOUR LABELS AND BE AN INDIVIDUAL

a reply to: imnotanother

munkie [ poo throwing costs extra ]

a reply to: imnotanother

No human being is JUST a human being.

We are brothers, fathers, mothers, sisters, cousins, uncles, aunts, grandfathers and grandmothers, we are warriors and poets, dancers and engineers, metalheads and rap fans, we are things of the Earth, and at once beings becoming inextricably linked to our communications technologies.

The labels we may wear over the course of a life are often necessary and healthy. What is not healthy is to allow the label one wears in a given decade, to define ones entire existence, because underneath those labels we are indeed, just human. But a human being who never even wears one of these labels, could be said to have avoided living, just as readily as one who obsesses over the meaning and import of one of these labels.

I think we should all be free to wear whatever label we wish, and make no explanation for it, or excuse on its behalf.

a reply to: imnotanother

The reality is that...

Humans by nature are tribal animals. They need and covet a community where they can feel "a part of" be they
bikers, jocks, gamers, headbangers, Christians, Tpartiers, etc. It's genetic in a society that is basically very primitive, clinging to clanlike behavior, gangs, subculture adherents and total group think!!

I applaud your idealism!!

Look around the dysfunctional cyber community called ATS. What do you see? A coming together as a powerful unit for social change? Not hardly....if it wasn't for the T&C we would lapse into constant name calling and dividing members into groups with an elite class and commoners occupying a broad spectrum of interests, ideologies and agendas ....oh wait...

No, our species needs something metaphysical perhaps to create what you seek.

Basically monkeys with guns selfdestruct and never quite make it to the "promised land"

Just enjoy the show!!

a reply to: imnotanother

You are a human? Cool. I'm a humanist. Pleased to virtually meet you.

Perhaps someday we may evolve into....

www.youtube.com...

I am a Human. What are you?

I'm not real sure....

a reply to: imnotanotherI agree that having labels on us limits us greatly. We are all, human.
However this society is an oppressive society. It may be that all societies are oppressive. That to be the individual you suggest we be is not possible for many. Maybe not you, maybe not the next guy, but for many.

Many, I am sure, feel threatened by this society. Many find that only by banding together in like-minded groups can they as individuals flourish. They may be seeking a smaller context within which to find themselves. Maybe some of us need this.

And what about a culture that says to the individual you are not equal, you have less status and can be rejected. Finding a peer group in which one can be accepted may be necessary for some.

The other day here at ATS I saw a video of not just the whole earth, but the solar system and not just that but it's place in this galaxy. And more, a map of galactic clusters of which the one in which we reside is now named Lanikea or some such name. By labeling ourselves we define how big a reality we can grow in. Are we this or that, human, earthling, Solar Resident, Milky Wayan, Lanikean or what ever comes next? It's about where we draw the line of what our context is to be.

I'm a Woman.... Woah man!!

Misanthrope. Look it up.

a reply to: imnotanother

There is one thing that we all share, the desire to be happy and free from suffering. There is not a human on the planet that doesn't share those goals. Everything we do relates to it. So in that sense we are the same but our methods and success vary considerablly.

Happy rant - whoo - hooo

Thank you for the replies and different perspectives on the topic.

I am guilty, at times, of labeling others and myself. I am far from perfect. But I disagree that we must label ourselves to deal with an oppressive society or that we are tribal animals from birth. I believe that most children willing play and interact with their peers without judgment to what "group" they belong. Prejudice and discrimination is taught, it is not inherent.

And what about a culture that says to the individual you are not equal, you have less status and can be rejected. Finding a peer group in which one can be accepted may be necessary for some.

I definitely understand what you are saying and I agree that in some countries, governments/religions do label others as "not worthy." But to the individual, this is not true. When you are born, you are equal. When you walk the street, you are equal. There is not one government or person who can take that away from you. They may try but in the end it is your perspective on the situation.

As humans, we are responsible for our actions and thoughts. We have the power to change our reality.

a reply to: imnotanother

I go throughout my day and I hear my coworkers/friends/family/strangers classify themselves as something but I never hear one of them say, "I am a person. I am an individual. I am a human."

I'm happy I am a mouse. I get to live in the woods and chew out nuts.

a reply to: imnotanother

I have three words to say to you: You nailed it.

Racism is a complete misnomer-we are all members of the same race race despite Skin color or beliefs. But humanity is not above stupidity either; we are all capable of doing or saying stupid things and those actions are projected all across the globe.

If complete harmony was to ever be attained then it would require every human being to find common ground, and that would be an unprecedented event.

a reply to: Thecakeisalie

If complete harmony was to ever be attained then it would require every human being to find common ground, and that would be an unprecedented event.

I agree but that is why I am taking action. If everyone dropped the labels and were responsible for their individual thoughts and actions, then our world would move forward but if we continue to sit on the fence and point the finger, then I don't think we will ever change and grow up. People who see the big picture (governments/banks/religions) will always divide the populace to continue the charade.

It is time we stop playing their game and come together as HUMANS.

a reply to: rickymouse
That's a squirrel! You live in a house with a cat named Tom and eat cheese!

Me personally, I'm a ass man like Kramer, myself.

OT:
We're all human, it's just that some refuse to act like it sometimes.

if we continue to sit on the fence and point the finger, then I don't think we will ever change and grow up.

a reply to: imnotanother

There is nothing wrong with sitting on the fence, and that's the problem.

The fence represents transparency and that's exactly what we need.

a reply to: imnotanother

But IM,, hasn't "us"(label) and "them"(label) always been the case? Tribes living in one area were "us" and tribes living in another area were "them". Fast forward to now and isn't it the same? Us and them, however we define these two groups?
Now once again I agree with you wholeheartedly. If we all were to drop all our our labels and labeling we might be all the better off. But once again, you may be ready to do this, I certainly am but maybe so many others are not. The us and them paradigm is old old old. We are not going to get rid of it over night. But, each little step I guess.

a reply to: imnotanother
The label is not the problem. It is the assumption, and therefore stigma that gets attached to a given label that becomes a problem.

a reply to: imnotanother


I agree with both tone and theme of your post, well realized.


That said, only one collective entity exists with the power to not only provide true equality to all people in this nation and around the world but also enforce universal equality and that entity is we the people ourselves. It's a monumentally colossal and difficult task for to achieve such a state of equal beingness each and every one of us would have to voluntarily give up, set aside, relent the generationally inculcated prejudices with which we are born: step one. Step two would require each of us to overcome the community, regional and national prejudices into which our countless micro societies and cultures have indoctrinated us.

If I have learned just one universal truth about human nature, that truth is the inherent need for the individual to feel superior over his or her fellow human being, in some way, in order to exist with any degree of self-confidence or even self-acceptance. Even lifelong friendships are subject to this truth. Relationships, while dynamic, always depend on a dominant/subservient or leader/follower model. This inescapable interpersonal arrangement in my opinion lies at the root of the need for human self-division into distinctive groups.

Additionally, all of us humans want, need to believe ourselves unique in some way that meaningfully distinguishes us from the next average jane or joe. Turn over the coin and we find that all the while throughout our quest for uniqueness among the masses, we just as relentlessly search or quest for those as similar to us as possible so that we can create and lead or join and follow a group of people like us; people who believe like we believe, look like we look, talk like we talk--and in doing so these like minded individuals act as mirrors in whose reflections we see justification and vindication of what we always believed or needed to believe or suspected was "the right way" or "the true way" because they look or do or feel like we do.

Then rears its benighted head the human need to know truths, right and wrongs, that others cannot also know, and that are inseparable from the id and infallible in our own minds. The greatest threat to such hallowed beliefs of self is doubt, and the possibility or suspicion that someone else's "known ultimate truths" are more right than our own or make more sense. Back an animal into a corner and yes out come the claws, but beware backing another person's most sacred truths into a dead end alley of the heart and psyche for the instinctual self-defense response will be a to the death fight for the preservation of ideology and right to say or be "right".

But these tendencies of us human beings to voluntarily divide and fracture our race into countless subgroups cannot soley be blamed on either the collective or individual. Our leaders, our rulers since time out of mind have nurtured our nature to discriminate, to be prejudiced and ultimately to hate. Today the media also divides us intentionally via manipulation of our most ancient prejudices, as do corporations through labyrinths of advertising and the design of products for one segment but not the other, knowing full well that other segment desires said product even more than the intended customer base.

Can a stand be made against the division of our race? When I think about how ancient so many of these modern sources of hatred really are, and I mean sources going back several millennia, I truly have doubts such deep wounds can ever be healed. Perhaps a first step could be a unified refusal to allow their further exploitation.

Think about being white and walking alone in a black ghetto, or being black and breaking down some night outside an affluent gated white community where your skin color is seldom seen, even more rarely interacted with. The white man and black man--they are not natural enemies, nor even very ancient enemies inherently for that matter.

So what then predisposes these these two representative examples of the human race to hate the other based on skin color? Tradition. History. Teachings both of the parent and the society. Media and corporate based encouragement. All sources of hate that have nothing biologically to do with being human.

Exploring prejudice and hatred in this light perhaps some hope can be generated for change and unity, as the media and corporate influence can be changed. History and centuries of socio-psychological conditioning? A much steeper slope to negotiate for sure, but identifying some part of the problem at least could be a viable step zero