The love of power has surpassed the power of love.
We live in a world full of hatred, crime, selfishness and malice. People forget to do what’s right in general, in the eyes of the law, or for their fellow kin. We live in a world where people are judgmental and spiteful, and think there will be no repercussions for their actions.
It is because of this society that we, humans as a whole, have grown into, that we live in fear. Fear of what others think of us, fear of prejudice from others, fear of what we think of ourselves.
In this past week alone, we have had the shooting of a man, reportedly because of his race, followed by the shooting of police officers, leaving five for dead and more wounded.
In this past month, we have had a night club shot up because of hatred for homosexuals.
The way society has raised us is to fear what doesn’t fit in. If a girl – or even a guy, because this does in fact happen to all people – feels like they don’t fit the mold for society, they hide who they are, in fear of being ostracized. That girl on the treadmill is only there because she gets picked on for being “overweight.” That man lifting weights feels he isn’t “big enough” and therefore not masculine enough. That girl is only dating her boyfriend because her parents make homophobic slurs, making it impossible for her to ever be accepted for liking women.
As generations grow and mature, we go along with the biases that were passed down to us from past generations. The need for war, violence and hatred is only getting stronger as our generation gets older.
Has anyone ever noticed that the only thing on the news nowadays is all tragedy? People shooting others, police forces blowing up snipers, major bombings, and mass massacres?
The news never shows the good in life anymore. It is being depicted to all as a world full of hate because everyone in the world wants to establish dominance over each other.
Great Britain broke away from the European Union.
America sent more troops overseas.
ISIS (which should be noted is not a specific country or religion) wants to use violence to end western power.
We live in a world where the love of power and being in control, and the need to win each competition is surpassing the power of love.
Everyone is blaming religion for the world’s problems. They blame Muslims, and in the past, Jews, and quote books such as The Bible and the Qur’an to justify their acts when I know that at the very least, according to The Bible, we all should ”love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:35-40). I'm not positive about this because I am a loose Catholic, but I would be confident saying that the other books of religion have their own version of this. Because no matter what God you believe in, or even if you believe in a God, we were all taught when as pre-schoolers and toddlers to be kind to each other. But once we grew up, this suddenly isn't something that people do anymore.
Maybe if we lived in a world that taught us it was OK and socially acceptable to be ourselves, we would have less violence.
If we lived in a world where people were taught more compassion to be used for always, not just in times of tragedy, we would have less tragedy.
If we lived in a world where the power of love could overpower the need and love of power, we would finally live in a world with peace.
Do some good today. Show some compassion for others that isn’t selfish. Hold the door for someone. Buy a stranger’s coffee. Pay it forward. Show that love for our fellow man isn’t as obsolete as it currently is.
