Divide and Rule; Unite and Embrace: The Ramifications of Accepting An Unfair Society

 In his Ted Talk lecture, Yuval Noah Harari explains how human beings differ from animals in their ability to coalesce and work together in large numbers. He explains how human beings are unique in that they use fictions in order to come together and agree on a principle which isn't real. Money, for example, is such a fiction, as are corporations and nations. Similarly, human beings forms groups who identify with such fictions. Nations, races, political groups, religions...all abide by rules and beliefs established by the group. And groups vie against each other for power; each group using its own beliefs and values to compare itself to other groups, and accept or reject, or incorporate those beliefs or values into its own.

 We know slavery is an historical wrong. We know human rights abuse is an historical wrong. We know women's lack of autonomy is an historical wrong. We know that homosexuality, and gender rights, have been too long coming to civilization. Nowadays, many more of us are politically aware of the injustices minorities have faced throughout the ages. As we become more aware, the politics of freedom changes, and those who were once slaves, or dehumanized, or disenfranchised, know what is to be seen as equal in society. But is it any different for animals? We enslaved people of color because we could. Elements within human society have controlled and manipulated and subjugated other elements within  society because they could. And they got away with it because they could. But is it any different how we treat animals? We kill and eat, wear, and enslave animals by the millions every day. We wear their skin, and we eat their flesh and organs. We eat their eggs, and drink the milk intended fo

 It's been said that the only thing that truly unites people is a common enemy. How true is that? We divide into groups, into tribes, each tribe's members having affiliation with the next. We know what's common with us: our skin color, our nationality, our gender, our sexual orientation, our interests.  Some of us are Red Sox fans; others White Sox. We might hate the damn greedy, stupid Republicans or the Snowflake bleeding heart Democrats . We're sick of the immigrants taking our jobs , or the goddam queer hanging around our kids. We resent the rich guy who has more money than we'll ever see, or the homeless guy because we think he'll steal from us. We hate the rich Jew , we might think who controls the wealth;or the Muslim , because he's probably supporting terrorism.  In the following clip, from the movie Independence Day, the president is rallying the people not just of America but the whole world to fight the alien invasion. Is this the only real o

 Self confessed bigot Doug Stevenson on bigotry, what makes a bigot, how to deal with your own bigotry, and how to talk to a bigot in this Ted Talk:

 The former Assistant Attorney General of The United States shares his experience of racist cops while he was jogging in DC:

 Why do we hate? Is it just that we fear others that are different to us? Do we fear, and therefore hate the unknown? Is hatred the underlying cause of prejudice, or is it fear? Is the root of hatred fear? The following video explores this and other questions about why we hate: