Please Note: This video is a re-upload as I noticed on the original video I uploaded the other day there some nagging issues that I simply wasn’t happy with and so I decided to delete and then re-do the video, also taking a chance to improve the artwork. Ultimately I want to ensure you get the best representation of my content creations... Thank you.
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People dehumanise other people when they do not want to see them as equals, as it helps them sanctify all of the inhumane actions they have or are planning to take against them. Because even with our great diversity we are all still human beings at he end of the day and we must try not forget that. In many ways it baffles me, as all the time we hear demands for more and more diversity being recognised in society. But when it comes to ideals, views, opinions and thoughts etc, so many out there are demanding a single perspective be established and maintained. In short, it’s almost as if we all like different, until different doesn’t look like us.
Labelling people is a cheap and easy way to strip them of their humanity. A word, a term or phrase that strictly defines a characterised version of a person or ideal (typically one that carries negative connotations) that’s used to erase every nuance and specific of a real person or idea, allowing you to write them off in a single utterance or keystroke. For example, if you take a person who is talking about a subject but may have a blind spot in their understanding (perhaps because they haven’t yet encountered a piece of information) and so spoke incorrectly. But rather than recognise this and make allowances for their misunderstanding we simply call them “stupid!”. Once enough people decide to follow suit then from that point on anyone who hears this person speak about the same topic, even though they may have since familiarised themselves with this missing knowledge, will rudely ignore them because in everyone’s minds they are a clueless fool, so why should they listen! Once firmly affixed such a cruel label can be very hard if not impossible to break away from. Obviously this is a very simple example, but the principle remains the same whether confronted with the deeply trivial or the critically serious. We often see how Labels are used in debates and discussions, both in person and online which people throw around whenever they want to quickly discredit their opponent. Should they struggle to counter another’s claims and arguments but want to win the day regardless, then with one stick of a label they remove all of that person’s credibility in the eyes of the audience and so anything they say or do afterwards is jeered and heckled into obscurity. Like I say it’s a cheap and dirty tactic but being used prolifically because (sad to say) it’s so darned effective!
But take heed before joining in with such activity, because there is a very serious and lasting consequence that can follow such behaviour. For too many of the worst events in Human history came about after people, real living people with their own lives, families and hopes and dreams were ruthlessly labelled in such a way that it stole their humanity. Until they became nothing but a “thing” in the eyes of some to which literally anything could be justified. So while I know that in moments of anger and frustration it can feel tempting to try and best your opponent through sullying their name with a label, remember that the more labels we affix to the world the more we increase peoples animosity towards those who have been labelled. And so in turn increase the prospect of real living people with their own lives, families and hopes and dreams losing their humanity in some peoples eyes, to which they might just feel literally anything can be justified...So while we try to keep our lines of communication open, let’s also keep our hearts and minds open too.
Best wishes everyone and don’t forget that we are all still human at the end of the day.
Westley xx
#thoughtsofsteel
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