Friday, March 6, 2009

Label

Labels…we all use them. Everyone each day labels something.
It makes no difference what is labeled, as long as it has a label.
Labels are convenient, especially when “naming” a collective whole of something.
Each member of the whole looses it’s personal name…this system of naming has been used for centuries to identify similar objects.
Labeling a “thing”, is not at all wrong.

“Foreigner”, “Prep”, “Freak”, Enemy”, “Black”, “White”, “Brown”, “Extremist”, “Saber”, “Force”, “Government”.
Labeling people.
Some labels are more damaging than others.
For example, “Prep” and “Freak”; common terms.
They may seem harmless.
But are they really?
By labeling, a person is forming a barrier, a separation, from other people.
Groups of people who are not in unity, only hurt one another.

Now, people often associate themselves with there particular ethnic background.
Look at history, the hatred instigated by racial conflicts (racial differences), has been around since the days of the mighty Egyptian empire…and such hatred still lives on this Earth.

It seems to be the habit, to assume that all people under a government, agree (completely) with the ideals and beliefs of that government.
That being said, it is therefore easy to simply label one nation of people, under one category.
Once a label has been made, more and more differences can be found between the two nations (as a collective whole).
Differences, lead to hate, contemned, jealousy, insecurity…which lead to war…most of the time anyway.

I’ve always thought, the names of military platoons to be humorous…in a strange sort of way.
Saying,
“We launch a pre-emptive strike against their 4th division in O’ WHATEVER hours.”
Sounds much better than saying,
“We launch an early, advantaged attack against their group of scared men with weapons in O’ WHATEVER hours.”
Take the humanity out…I’m sure fighting objects sounds much better than killing other people.

By labeling people, they become nothing more than objects.
Their value and worth as individuals is gone.
Other people become distant and different by receiving labels.

People can be foolish.
I doubt, that people can fix this world, if they can’t even fix their relationships with each other.