You know I keep hearing that we’re experiencing all these epidemics. Obesity epidemic, gun violence epidemic, suicide epidemic, and the debt epidemic to name a few. The way I see it, we’re only suffering from one and that’s a hate epidemic.

    We hate ourselves so either stuff our faces, or starve ourselves. We hate others, so we shoot up our schools, churches, clubs, and concerts. We hate the world and ourselves so much that we think it would be better just to die. Our jealousy of others becomes jealousy. We think we need to have everything everybody else has, so we sink ourselves into suffocating debt, trying to achieve happiness that can’t be attained with material items.

    Perhaps the most blaringly apparent type of hatred is the hatred of others that are different. We want to build a wall, ban them from our country, and we rip apart families that are just trying to make a better life for themselves. Anyone that speaks against us is suddenly a pathological liar. No longer can we debate our ideas because anyone who doesn’t agree with us, is against us. People lose their jobs because they don’t hold the popular opinion. It’s all you vs. me, instead of trying to work together.

    Despite common sense, we try to fight hate with hate, but what we need is love. If we loved ourselves, we would take care of our bodies and just be content with what we have. We wouldn’t care what they have, but who they are as people. If we treated others with love and compassion we’d try to be empathetic to others situations. We wouldn’t care if it affected us or not, but if it was better for humanity. We would see others as people, instead of as race, gender, or sexual orientation. We would fight for those who can’t fight for themselves instead of ignoring them because, “It doesn’t affect us”.

    Now this all sounds bleak, it isn’t so much. All we need to do is follow the most basic, but golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do onto you. So I ask you, take a moment to learn someone’s story, and try to put yourself in their shoes. We need to love each other, be kind to one another, try to understand one another, and perhaps most importantly, love ourselves. If we all lived by these standards, I believe the world would be a more beautiful place.