About 5 million years ago, a tiny and weak creature began its amazing journey on this planet. Braving all odds, it lived on the African plain, in the presence of many mighty and scary predators. Then, rising to its feet, it started an almost unbelievable chapter of survival and consolidation. In the next million years, this species established itself as the dominant master of Planet Earth- a dramatic turnaround from the feeble and vulnerable being that it began its existence as. But somewhere along the way, apart from being a terror for other living forms, a minority from this species created divisions and sidelined many members of its own species.
“Humans were the weakest species. Maybe that was why they could be the meanest animals.”
― James Patterson, When the Wind Blows
Most species have divisions based on characteristic and physiological differences and these divisions serve many functions as well. However, most such divisions that we Humans created among ourselves (although the intended purpose of some of them was noble and beneficial) turned out to be highly divisive and detrimental, even a threat to our very existence. Some of the lines that we divided ourselves with are: Geographic, Political, Biological, Social, Religious and Economic. All of these are separate and detailed discussion topics, in themselves.
Geographically and Politically, we scattered ourselves into Nations, States, Territories and Unions. The ever-growing greed of the few, in the garb of industrialization and development, led to wars, rebellions, invasions, slavery and human suffering of a magnitude that is amplified by the fact that more people have died and suffered in wars in the history of our existence than due to epidemics, natural calamities and deadly diseases put together. The Crusades, The World Wars, The Oil Wars and many more of their ilk have brought us to the brink of extinction, at the same time creating such animosity among people of different regions that even dreaming about a united world seems too far-fetched.
"All War is Deception" - Sun Tzu
Geographic and Political Demarcations may have become necessary for meaningful administration and maintaining cultural integrity, but some of the after-effects have been terrible- a new form of which is regionalism, the recent creation of the state of Telangana (in India) and the rising number of more such demands is a case in point.
If this was not enough, we also started differentiating ourselves on the basis of Race and Caste. Race is a Biological construct, whereas Caste is a Social one. Black, White, African, American, Latino, Indian, Mongolian, Negro; Kshatriya, Brahmins, Shudras(Indian Castes); is how we identify each other, despite sharing the same skin, blood and organs. Apartheid, Untouchability, Caste Discrimination, Color Discrimination were some of the monsters that raised their ugly heads in different parts of the world and still cause a lot of damage to societal fabric around the globe.
"Racism is not born, folks, it's taught. I have a two-year-old son. You know what he hates? Naps! End of List." - Denis Leary
However, I guess, two more demarcations have caused- and the scary and saddening part is- much more damage than the above mentioned factors. One of them being Religion. Its promoters will always tell you that Religion teaches peace and kindness. It is baffling, then, that the most bloody and gory wars and riots have taken place in the name of religion. These same religions only serve to instill fear of an invisible power that will punish people if they do not follow suit, and to instill hatred against non-believers and members of other religions. Truth be told, Religion has only turned people against each other, working on a basic foundation of fear and ignorance.
" If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed." - Albert Einstein
The other factor, out of the two mentioned above, is Economic. And it should not be treated in isolation. It is, in fact the combined effect of all the five divisions discussed so far, a sort of an avaricious and diabolical aim to create a chasm between the haves and the have-nots.
Have a look at some facts:
"The world’s 225 richest people have a combined wealth of over $1million million. Only four per cent of this wealth would be enough for basic education and healthcare, adequate food and safe water and sanitation for all the world’s people. The 15 richest people have assets that exceed the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of sub-Saharan Africa. The assets of the 84 richest people exceed the GDP of China, which has 1.2 billion inhabitants." (Source: The Internationalist Magazine)
Need more be said? The greedy few seem to have snatched their share of the resources and that is why, perhaps, these 'Dividing Lines' were devised and executed so brilliantly and ruthlessly over the years.
“We have lost our humanity to the decimal point.”
― Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason
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