PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

Xenophobia is defined as the fear and hatred

of strangers or foreigners.

Taking it further, it's also the fear and hatred

of strange or foreign things such as ideas or beliefs.

Don't be a xenophobe, everyone, reach out!  Understand!

Don't stay in your comfort zone because it's safer and true.

That the way you're living is thought of or ordained

as "the only one" whether it be through religion,

morals, ethics, or general standards.



Don't be insular.

Insularity basically means you're narrow-minded

especially when you only believe in what your group

of people who think alike believe in and absolutely

don't believe in what outsiders are thinking.

It's like living in an island with people you know

but aren't willing to open up to outsiders at all.



Insularity and xenophobia create divisions.

It divides people in this world who biologists today

have found out that every human on this planet is 99.8

percent similar to everyone else in terms of genetics and DNA.

The missing .2 percent is what makes our skin colors

different, our eye colors different, our heights,

anything that makes us physically in appearance different.

Why are we going to stereotype, discriminate, be prejudice,

and create divisions when we're all genetically similar?

I don't understand that.



But not only that, no matter how different you are

in appearance everyone around the world also shares

similar core human conditions.

Everybody experiences love, hate, sorrow, regret,

jealousy, happiness, heartache, loneliness, frustration,

stress, and this list goes on and on...

Everybody bleeds just like you when your finger is pricked.

It's just that different people embellish or adorn

these basic core human conditions with their own

unique cultures, beliefs, and practices.

Even if on the surface different people with differences

express these emotions the same way you do.



Don't immediately judge a person because the culture

of that person is strange to you from what you yourself

grew up with.



Don't be an ethnocentrist.

Ethnocentrism is a sociological term meaning you interpret

or judge another person's culture and beliefs with

your own culture and beliefs as a model or code to judge

and interpret other people and what they believe in.

To put it simply, you use your own beliefs as a model or code

to judge and interpret other people and what they believe in.



Instead, be a cultural relativist.

Cultural relativism is the opposite of ethnocentrism.

It means you try to interpret and UNDERSTAND people from

their point of view and not from your own point of view.



With cultural relativism, you don't judge people who

are different from you with your own culture, morals,

or beliefs with your eyes but see it in theirs.

You can understand a lot better if you look at it

from their perspective.



If the world did all the above as best they could

we could lessen or alleviate hate, suffering, wars, misunderstandings.



Although it's frankly impossible to completely wipe out all

negativity in this world and promote long lasting peace,

we can make a change for the better instead

of what it's like now.



All of us living in this world can make a change

for the better if we do it.

All of us can be moving toward a bright future

rather than staying put and doing nothing because

what was stated above is a fantasy.



To me, this isn't a fantasy or something ideal.

In my eyes, I regard this as a POSSIBILITY with

the restriction that if everyone makes the choice

to do something to create a better, more UNDERSTANDING world,

it will come true.  You can bet on it.



We are stronger united than separated.

And it's great to have a social harmony than to be

in social discordance.



It's sad how many out there still divide, still oppress,

still misunderstand each other.

They create walls between people who aren't the same

as them and themselves.



And there are some who put strain and pressure unto others

to conform to what they themselves believe to be physically,

spiritually, emotionally, or mentally "correct."



There are people out there who would go as far as to use

violence and murder to enforce their ideals as "true."



And tragically, there are many out there who don't reach out,

take a risk, understand people's differences, and embrace it.

Conformity can be such a horrible thing.

Just because you're amassed doesn't mean you're right.



So think for yourself everybody.

Don't follow the system because everybody does it.

Or that it ensures "safety" of ourselves from unwanted,

sometimes "evil" things.

That thinking outside the box is dangerous to you.

That it's unacceptable.  That anything foreign must not

be trusted because the "system" is the ONLY way to live by.

That it's the only thing "right."  That you won't

be guaranteed safety, freedom, or love if you ventured

to the "other side" that's looked upon as wrong.



Because if everything and everybody become homogenous,

if everything became completely uniform in every single

aspect of our lives you basically annihilate CHOICE.

You become a mindless zombie incapable of deciding

and thinking for yourself.



The world we live in, although is a struggle of differing

perspectives and realities on which is right and wrong,

all of us could reach a consensus and compromise

on some things if we try.



We can create bridges to cross over and help understand

each other's differences.

"You Can If You Think You Can," says Walter D. Wintles

in his poem and I agree.  It's not at all impossible.



If there's one prominent thing I've learned so far

within my twenty years living here on this Earth, it's this...



(and take it into consideration even if you don't like my own opinion)



The most significant thing I've learned growing up

is that there are two emotions we have that make the world

as it is today:



LOVE and FEAR.



When we LOVE someone we have to respect ourselves

before we can learn to love and even respect others.

You have to do it before you express that you LOVE

someone else.  



LOVE is the most common and shared emotion absolutely

everyone feels presently and throughout human history.



LOVE can make the world go round if we let it.

Yet love can be used for the wrong reasons.

Sometimes it can be seen as factually deceitful and unsound.

People who follow the status quo often imply that:



"If you follow us, you'll be accepted.  Don't and you won't."



"If you be like us, we'll love you and truly do.

Don't and we'll abandon you."



"If you follow what we do, you'll be 'correct' because

our system says so."  



"So don't worry, be just like us and we'll care for you

and understand."  



"We won't stigmatize you for being different just

as long as you conform to our ways."



"Your ways are wrong but the system is right."



"Therefore, follow the 'right' institutions."



"Follow the mainstream."



"If ever you decide not to, too bad, you had the chance

of our love and acceptance but now you'll be left behind."



Now things brings me to the emotion of FEAR.

There's common knowledge out there that the root

of all evil is money.  Some say it's ignorance.



Others (if you're religious or especially a monotheist)

blame a source of evil, commonly Satan, the devil, for

bringing evil into this world.



I believe from a practical and rational view that

the root of all evil is FEAR.  FEAR is what divides us.



Let's face it.



FEAR creates DEEP BOUNDARIES.  Boundaries beget HATE,

IGNORANCE, AND UNREASONABLE SELF-CENTEREDNESS.



FEAR is what blinds us to help one another.



FEAR is what prevents us from reaching out and

bridging common understanding.



FEAR disrupts LOVE, HOPE, and HARMONY.



FEAR is what hinders us to understand people's differences.



And lastly, FEAR is what renders us HATEFUL, IGNORANT,

AND SELF-CENTERED.



~FEAR stops people from LOVING EACH OTHER.~



Don't let fear of people who are different from you,

people who don't conform, people who you may believe

is wrong because the majority says so prevent you

from being able to think on your own and understand people

who are different.



Don't let the mainstream keep you chained to it

and separated away from others outside the system.



Because following the mainstream and ignoring or hating

outsiders divides us as individuals.



And the mainstream tries to suppress and oppress outsiders.



It's a common THEME throughout history.



Take, for example, the suffragists who fought

for the women's vote.

Mainstream male dominant voters in the past detested

that likelihood and found ways to stop it simply

because voting was a political, male thing.



A male institution and not female.

Voting was a public sphere, not a private sphere.

Men can only vote and that's the status quo.

Men created divisions by labeling themselves as rational

thinkers while women were emotional thinkers.



But think in terms of today.

Couldn't women also be rational thinkers?

Couldn't they be both rational AND emotional?

Not just one and that's it?  And what about men too?

Couldn't men feel?  Couldn't they feel emotion?

I'm a guy and I cry sometimes when I have to.

That's natural.  I can't always be a rational thinker

100 percent of the time.  So what's wrong?

You see how this division creates tension and misunderstanding?



Creating labels separate us as human beings.

Back to FEAR, I know some say FEAR is a good thing

(but at times, it can still be seen as negative).



Take for example raising an infant.

Sometimes we use fear as a tool to make sure that a child

is safe from doing any wrong such as scaring a child,

stating that that lysol spray is "bad magic" manipulating

the child's safety in order to prevent that child

from playing with it which I don't see anything

negative about that.



However, you have to draw a line when using FEAR for

what the system feels as 'the better good.'

Using FEAR as a tool to keep you inside the system.

Inside the status quo.  What the system labels as

'incorrect' places a sense of fear on that very thing.



It's a dialogue of "we're right, the outsiders are wrong

and you should be afraid of them for their erring selves."

In my opinion, that's repulsive.  I'd rather think

for myself and embrace people who are different from me.



I prefer to accept others outside for who they are than

to follow everyone else thinking that "our way is correct."

"It's the only path correct."



Even if I become labeled as an outsider too because

I've learned to love and accept people who are not

like me, or even if I'm accused as a traitor to the system,

I'll understand...  It's okay.



I'm not mad but before, honestly, I used to.



You see, I don't blame, criticize, or hate "conformists"

who believe that they're right, I blame the system for

giving the mentality of "we're right, you're wrong" and

using fear and a false sense of love and security

and acceptance to endorse it.



And disallowing real love, respect, and understanding to

take place with foreign ideas, people, customs, beliefs,

religions, morals, and standards is going too far.



These are my opinions.  I'm not trying to sell nor impose

my opinions to the world like a T.V. or radio ad but

I'm expounding an idea, a CHOICE, an ALTERNATIVE REALITY we

could make so that the world will be whole lot better for everyone to truly get along.