Look, a soapbox!

Do the blind hate the same things that those of us who can see hate? How about the deaf? Is hate tied to visuals? Sound? Or is it a combination of the two? Or is hate tied to language? I mean, if we had no words to define the differences between each of us, would those differences still be there? I know that words only have the power that we give to them, but what if those words ceased to exist? Would it be so bad for a generation, or for all generations, to never hear the words that we use to convey our hate, our misunderstanding, our fear of the differences between each of us?

I know that just because no one says these words out loud does not mean that the hate is not there. You cannot do a whole lot about the people that are so afraid of the things in this world that are different from their definition of the norm that their only response it to hate them. But, if there was no way to pass that fear on to other people, wouldn't that be a good thing. I believe that the fear of these differences between us is a learned trait, because I do not believe that anyone is born hating anyone.

The argument can be made that there is no way to go without hearing these words, or that “censoring” humanity to keep out hateful words is wrong in it's own way. Me, I cannot see how the effort could ever be wasted. Isn't trying the important part? Not in the “it's the thought that counts” way, but in the “we should be trying to leave a better world for those that come after” way.

As for the idea that watching what we say is wrong in itself: total crap. We already watch what we say and who we say it around. That's why the joke about racist jokes works. You know, the one that goes, “how does every racist joke start?” followed by the joker looking over each shoulder. We know what the words we use mean, so we make sure that there is no one around to hear them. But, by saying them at all we keep them alive.

If no one ever said another joke about a Jew, or a black guy, or a woman, or a midget, would we actually lose anything? If no one said them and they were forgotten forever, would we be worse off? The answer to those two questions is pretty damn obvious. I hope. I have in my head the hope that this world of ours is not so far gone that it cannot get better. I have this hope that hate is not a stronger emotion than love, that understanding can beat fear, that someday people will just be people.

Would the world be better off if we were all deaf and blind? Or would we just find something else to hate? I can't imagine how if there was no way to communicate the differences to each other. Then again, that hypothetical is pretty dumb anyways. I think I lost my train of thought somewhere.

I do not want the point of this whole thing to be that we should all just get along, mostly because I love to argue. I guess I just wonder why people do not pay more attention to the things that they say and the impact that they have on the world around them. It wouldn't take a lot of people to stop saying these things to have an actual impact. Community by community, city by city, state by state, country by country. But waiting for someone else to do it, for someone else to change, is just cowardly. Starting somewhere is important, so why not start now. Right now.