The Spring of 1994 witnessed the brutal murder of almost a million people and the rape of almost a half million women inside the boarders of a country the size of the state of Maryland.
The cause – fear and hate.
Fear and hate are the primary manipulation tools employed when trying to coerce others, especially large groups of others. They are especially effective because those under their influence rarely know, and vehemently deny when confronted. In our, educated and sophisticated culture, It is always considered the “other people” who are influenced by such simple-minded tricks.
And there lies the challenge.
As we journey toward our mysterious future it would behoove us greatly to acknowledge that we are all manipulated by the purveyors of fear and hate. We must confront the fact that some of those who have influenced us the most have used fear and hate, expressed through ad hominem abusive and derogatory references, as well as comic ridicule and meme, to undermine rational and intellectually honest thought.
The challenge is to rise above the belief that only the “other people” succumb to such crude manipulation. We must become aware of the manipulative practices that bombard us every day. We should cultivate within us an alarm that responds to messages that strive to instill within us a belittlement of our neighbors. The “other people” are, in fact, our neighbors.
We are a society divided. For every topic of the day, we align behind manipulators that would have us believe those on the other side, the “other people”, are less than we. Less intelligent, less aware, less capable of detecting lies, less, less, less. What we must do is work to overcome those manipulators and accept that our neighbors, even those we disagree with, are our neighbors.
Today Rwanda thrives. Now home to over 12 million people, living as neighbors should.