They Ain’t Heavy

I hate. I do hate sometimes. It’s never people, only ideas. For example, I hate the idea that humans have to behave certain ways or they’re labeled odd, weird, undesirable. I hate the Othering we do to those who think and feel outside of the boxes we have built for everyone.
We divide and divide and divide. A line here, a wall there, a delineation, a box. A prison. We take the people we don’t understand, and we lock them away there, out of sight, out of mind, and we say it’s for the greater good.
I don’t do some things well. I don’t follow orders very well. I see many rules and laws as ways to separate minds from one another, as a method of keeping sections of people in control, lying to each group to keep them docile. I see governments and police forces as those assigned to protect the wealthy few from those they exploit, and in the process they create profit of their own to further enshrine their system from outside interference.
That isn’t to say I’m against order. I’m quite in favor of order. While I enjoy a little chaos from time to time, order is necessary for the well-being of all individuals. I just dislike artificial barriers used to hold people in place from having the option to behave as they wish (as long as they harm no one else).
I am terrible at anger. It always turns into mercy and compassion. I can get angry at governments and corporations, but I want the people who make them up to be safe and healthy. While I am certain there are people in the world who hate me (whether I know them or not), I cannot reciprocate that hatred. They are more likely to engender sympathy. It’s why I made that post the other day about Nazis. I know lots of people can get angry, and can say “let’s punch these Nazis!” but I can’t. These Nazis are human beings who have adopted a horrific ideology, but they’re still people, and if I believe there is one scintilla of a chance I can get through and change hearts, then I will make the effort. All punching does is bruise jaws and egos.
I’m against war, and it seems like we have a war for everything these days. Our government is so quick to label something a war, and to speak with such breathless abandon about how we must win the fight against this or that, and they create sides, and the media bolsters that narrative, shoring up juicy news articles and building fences for each side to rail against in order to foster the most profitable animosity.
I’m against profiting on the misery and pain of others. There are millions of desperately ill, in this first world nation, who cannot get the medicines they need because they’re unable to pay. Whole research companies ignore health solutions that don’t cater to large populations because they can’t recoup their costs, so hundreds or thousands suffer because they’re not profitable enough to cure.
Many of our clothes, especially shoes, much of our jewelry, these high fashion items are made by kids who are chained to sewing machines. We bomb entire towns filled with innocent men, women, and children. 1 in 5 children go hungry in this country, and then our government, our politicians, go on television and say that “someone should think of the children!” as they slash programs to help them, cut funding that their parents need to feed themselves and their loved ones. We dare to say these things and then profit off of the suffering of those most in need.
THAT is how my anger builds into towering anvil clouds of indignation, but from that anger will come mercy, compassion, kindness, and understanding. I want those politicians, those human beings who cloak themselves in the flag, in religion, in bureaucracy and patriotism, to realize that no matter how much money, power, or influence they have, they are still frail, fragile, frightened creatures who need love just like every other person.
When you’ve caught a glimpse of the universe in all of its glory, its immensity, its scope, you realize just how tiny we are, how short our lifespans, how fragile our bodies. The walls that existed before are now only lines on the floor. The society around you can be seen in its fleeting construction, its glittering, shiny walls showing cracks in the foundation, and seams in desperate need of patching.
Or a good hammer.
People are standing upon the promise of society like its solid stone, stamping about in their certainty and mastery, but you can see that it is nothing more than the most diaphanous of materials, just waiting for a strong breeze to destroy it beyond all repair.
The only thing that matters is us. Not laws, structures, luxuries, or even money. Just us. When we die, our thoughts don’t yearn for a palatial home or precious gems, they lean towards love, knowing we will never experience it any longer, and grasping at it like drops of water in the desert.
We are all that matters.