Allow me to start off this rant with a fun fact about myself: I am a chronic insomniac. And so, on many of my nights, I am consumed with reruns of TV shows I already watched and my thoughts on the human condition. This deadly combo would prove most effective when I decided to watch my favorite childhood anime from the beginning: Takao Koyama's "Dragonball Z."

The series' main protagonist, Goku, came to earth when he was just a small boy. One could only know this if they were at least generally aware of Koyama's original series that proceeded DBZ: "Dragonball." Thanks to a terrible head injury in his youth, he had total amnesia. And ever since, he was always a terrific fighter, but kind-hearted and fair. This series takes place in Goku's adult years. In the Pilot that I watched, Goku's biological brother, Raditz, comes to earth and sees that there is still life on the planet. He's greeted (if we can call it that), with a bullet from a farmer who was terrified of this humanoid with a tale that emerged from a spaceship on his property. Raditz flicks the bullet back to the old farmer, killing him instantly.

http://animedimensions.wikifoundry.com/page/Raditz

Thanks to a revealing soliloquy, we understand that Raditz and his race of Saiyans sent Goku to earth with one goal: Eliminate all life on earth. After the planet was clear of all creatures, the Saiyans would be able to make a high profit off the land. He goes on to say that they are self-proclaimed "space-pirates" that are into profiting off of weak species and their land. For the high abilities that Saiyans possess, it would be little work for just one to come and carry out that mission.

Even if you haven't heard of "Dragonball Z" before (I recommend it, if you're interested), surely that last bit sounds familiar, no? So many companies that were found in America will travel to foreign lands and hire starving people to do work for sometimes only PENNIES A DAY. I encourage you to think about that: How can you eat off of only pennies a day? The idea of this sounds cruel, but we do not relate, because it only impacts a certain, what? Race of people? Do you see where I'm going with this? If you'd like to see how the United States is really taking advantage of poor nations, I recommend you read the article "10 Shocking Ways The West Abuses Developing Countries."

Do you know what the irony is? We hear this term used so often, "third world countries don't have enough..." "the third world needs..." and "what can we do for the third world?" But these lines of questioning do what my title says we're doing: Alienating. The third planet from the sun is planet earth, and to identify someone from a "third world" country is just plain alienating. I regret ever saying this term and, mark my words, I never will again. Because to tolerate this phrase and accept it is to think that we are somehow a better species of people. I mean, after all, we are in the "first world." How many times have you heard of the phrase, "first-world problems?" I mean, has money really changed us so much that we think we are from a different world than the less fortunate?

I am for the evolution of man and for the final stage of our assimilation process: To finally see that, underneath the different skin-tones, we all bleed red. We may never get there and the thought terrifies me.