The world we live in is quick to point fingers and allocate blame without a thorough examination of what truly is. We often fail to take the time to understand all possibilities and truths. Instead, we lean toward our internal biases, aligning ourselves only with those who validate them. We create communities and identities based on our shared endorsements, branding them as “communities of interest.” Those who exist outside our ideals and beliefs are labelled as “deviants” or “charlatans.”
We exhibit little tolerance for dissent or diversity, and the worst among us solidify their identities around this intolerance. We normalize such attitudes and infuse them into the dynamics of culture, turning a blind eye to the potential damage they may cause. We convince ourselves that as long as we are not on the receiving end of this intolerance, it is acceptable. What we forget is that, like any infectious wound, even the most minor forms of intolerance, if left untreated, can fester and spread like wildfire in a field of dry grass, consuming everything in its path and affecting the whole body. It doesn’t matter how long it takes; hate and intolerance are guaranteed to progress, and when they do, chaos is the inevitable result.
Hate and intolerance are the true faces behind most of our “cides,” “phobias,” and “isms.” Genocides arise from the hate and intolerance of one group toward another; femicides stem from the internalized hate and intolerance of one gender by another; xenophobia represents the hate and intolerance directed at people from other countries; Islamophobia is the hate and intolerance aimed at Muslims; racism is the hate and intolerance based on skin colour (yet we often fail to understand our own colours); and tribalism is the hate and intolerance between different tribes. More often than not, these sentiments first manifest as subtle comments and feelings of superiority based on biology and socialization. Until they find the right (or, in this case, the wrong) environment for growth and expression, they may appear harmless.
Anything that grows incessantly will eventually outgrow its natural environment and seek refuge in uncharted territory. This is where hate and intolerance are translated into doctrines and shared prejudices, disseminated through both traditional and modern institutions of socialization and power structures to ensure the generational continuity of hate. Here, we find entire identities boasting about how “they are not like these people,” and there will always be individuals who manipulate and weaponize that hate.
The wars, conflicts, violence, aggression, divisions, greed, discrimination, and pain in this world can often be traced back to a time long ago, perhaps in the Stone Age, when someone decided that anyone who didn’t look, speak, or think like them was worthy only of hate. Those we hate, we do not tolerate, and that has become the norm. What we hate and cannot tolerate brings us a sense of pleasure when we see it die, much like watching a bad habit fade away.
As our populations grew, we expanded our understanding of the world and gained more knowledge (though I’m not sure if I should say “information” instead). While some knowledge may be universal, its interpretation is not always the same. People will always interpret information and knowledge differently because no two individuals are truly the same—not even conjoined twins. Slight differences in environments, experiences, influences, beliefs, emotions, thoughts, aspirations, chemical compositions, genes, and other contexts make it impossible for us to be the same. So, if we can find common ground in amid these differences, why not broaden our perspective and focus on our humanity as the first and most important thing we all share?
If we are to agree on one thing, let it be the truth that we are different sides of the same pendulum. Diversity is the gravity that moves us, and even though we exist on different sides, we can still meet in the middle and reciprocate our love and appreciation for one another. In that middle ground lies our dreams, our hopes, our survival, and our humanity.
Humanity should be our centre, and we should not hate what makes us who we are but celebrate it. Anyone who thinks otherwise and uses hate and intolerance to drive an anti-human agenda is the only one truly deserving of the labels “charlatan” or “deviant.”