The Not So Great Divide

It's Friday, November 4, 2011, its my stepmother's birthday, and this is The Side. Hopefully the HITMAN volume 5 trade I ordered for her will get here soon.

I'm very tired right now.

I'm thinking today about the division of things, mainly groups of people. It seems like there's a lot of focus on it now. In many areas I'm all for it when we keep things in perspective. Splitting things up can bring about competition, which can be fun and enjoyable. The competition can be physical, mental, or emotional.

Physical competition is pretty obvious. We typically see it in sports. It gets the blood up, and pushes those competing to be the best person out there.

Mental competition also pushes folks. We see this in debates, spelling bees, chess matches, and any other intellectual pursuit that can involve more than one person. This is also good. It keeps the mind sharp.

Emotional competition is along the lines of being a fan of something. Let's say you're a Yankees fan. If your team is on the field you're invested at least a little bit emotionally. Well, there's someone else out there who's invested emotionally in whoever the Yanks are playing. Being passionate about something is good for the soul.

There's a flip side to all this. Competition can bring out a lot of bad stuff. people can cheat. They can do something to intentionally hurt someone. They can get so obsesses with winning that they hurt themselves. This happens when people forget something very important: they are part of a larger group.

That person cheering for the sports team that's playing against the team you love. You both love the same game.

That guy at the comic shop who loves Marvel Comics instead of DC. Guess what. You both love comics.

That guy I face in the ring when the gloves go on. He's there because he loves martial arts just like me. That's why the first thing we do is bow.

Unfortunately, there are people out there who want to focus so much on the divides in things that they do some really stupid stuff. There's no competition to see who is a better person. In that its when you start behaving like you're better than someone else because of some divide that separates you, you become a worse person.

Atheists that malign religious folks needlessly, and just as much a bunch of douchebags as those 'Christians' who tell people "You're going to hell" for not living their lives a certain way.

Anyone who assaults another person for being a fan of a particular sports team should get to spend time in cell to think about what they've done.

People standing around pointlessly in the streets because they're not as successful as they wish they were and someone else is doing well because they worked hard and got a little lucky are just being petty.

Calling somebody a "racist" simply for having a differing political view that has nothing to do with race at all simply because you want to tear down those people is pretty disgusting.

However, all this ranting probably will be forgotten fairly quickly by anyone who reads it. After all. Next year is an election year.

MUSIC!!

Heard these guys broke up.



See y'all Sunday.

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