Opinion
 

Other viewpoints need to be seen

By Donald LeGrand

Imagine being singled out by law enforcement, or being picked on as a child because you've been seen through the lens of someone else's prejudice. Consider the numerous wars that have been fought throughout history, and ponder this: Who or what initiated those wars?

Wars are fought over what people believe. People fail to see the circumstances objectively; they fail to see the whole picture. We identify with our culture, our country, family, social status and religion. Yet these concepts of self are not set in stone. Countries fall; families are broken up; people lose their cultural identity; people change their religions; the rich become poor and the poor become rich in the course of a lifetime.

The common people fail in their ignorance of the situation and find themselves guided toward destructive courses of action by those in authority, while the people in authority fail to correctly interpret the knowledge to which they are exposed. They come to incomplete conclusions because they have failed to take all elements into consideration. 

The difficulty lies in understanding other people's unique perspectives. In order to see as others see, we have to become like them. We cling too strongly to an identity that does not take into account how much we are connected with each other. Our identities are too easily put into forms that are destructive not only to others, but to ourselves. If we truly loved ourselves, would there be any war? 

We react out of desperation. In our desperation we put the blame on others for the poverty we experience. Poverty is experienced in our loneliness, lack of love and lack of freedom. Desperation cannot be used as a reason for hate.

Countries require numerous natural resources to sustain their civilization. People, physical resources and energy supplies are all necessary. Yet much of these resources are spent in waging war. Thus many countries are put into debt they cannot afford, while experiencing material and intellectual poverty that results in many wars being fought.

We have a resource far more valuable than any natural resource ­ our minds ­ and we have yet to scratch the surface of their true potential. The mind will have to serve as a resource so vast that all resources from ocean to sky shall not compare. However, the mind will only be able to serve in that capacity if we learn to control it.

People are seeking an answer to the unique individual problems they experience in the world. Yet in order to find that answer, people will have to find the strength to wage a war worth fighting ­ the one within ourselves. Every genuine effort we make at improving ourselves is rewarded either by success or further penetration of the problem. We each are responsible for the fate our planet. You make the choice. 

LeGrand, an editorial writer for The Daily Cougar, 
can be reached via dccampus@mail.uh.edu.