As a result of the recent violence, I felt a need to look up the definition of humanity. Pictures of the human race with characteristics relating to ‘brotherly love, kindness, and compassion.’ Nowadays, watching the daily news entails watching innocent lives lost and tragedy strike every part of our world. Has the human race lost their humanity? It seems we’ve lost our innocence, compassion, and trust in God. We’ve forgotten what it means to truly be one nation rather than multiple fragments of a broken society.
Social media, entertainment, and the education system today are making it difficult to be civilized. When did our form of lending support become as simple as updating our profile pictures on Facebook, or writing a quick “pray for [insert town/city here]?” Is it that we slowly started giving up on one another?
With social media and nonstop news coverage, we can hear about an event within minutes of it occurring. However; entertainment today has become more problematic than we care to admit. I remember a scene from "The Dark Knight" where the Joker states “They’re only as good as the world allows them to be. When the chips are down, these civilized people, they’ll eat each other.” We forget about our humanity the second life begins to unravel.
Think of the world as a clock. With every piece working in unison, the clock continues to tick, the minutes pass and the days go by unchanged. When a bolt or wire pops out, the clock will no longer function. This is the human race. When one part of the community is affected, the world will cease to function as a whole.
I was at work the other day, seating a family for dinner, when this little girl had the audacity to throw the children’s menu back at me declaring “that’s a waste, I have an iPhone.” I picked the menu up off the floor and explained their server would be right over, only to hear the child say “she could’ve got our drinks.” As a child, if I ever treated someone in such a way, I would’ve been scolded on the spot.
Some parents are no longer teaching their children to respect authority or elders. Everyone deserves the same respect regardless of their position, race, religion, or gender. Isn’t this something we’ve tried to fix repeatedly in history? History teaches us to learn from past mistakes and rewrite a new script, this time with love and understanding. To love is simple and effortless. To loathe requires energy and time.
Unfortunately it’s become too common to hear of mass shootings and violence on our streets. We can no longer sit and pretend it’s not an issue for our nation. Sitting here with my younger cousins, I’m truly terrified for them and the world in which they now have to live. Are we willing to accept the way things are headed today?
Our world is being influenced by anger, constantly envious of what others have and displeased at our own shortcomings. Some can’t accept the fact that sometimes, things don’t happen for them simply because. Blaming one another will not solve our issues. Hate and violence won’t either. In order for us to create a better tomorrow for future generations, we must come together. We must strive to find our humanity again. We have to at least try.
