20/11/08

A concerning thought has occurred to me recently. It strikes me how there are a lot of people who may be different in mind and/or body, who have absolutely no compulsion with taking from humanity, because they have never truly felt to be a part of it.1

I mostly get this impression from intelligent individuals who feel alienated, whether they have acknowledged it or not, from their race because they find very little common ground with the human beings they have so far encountered. This is a very scary thought, and it demonstrates to me how this world has a tendency of turning people inside out. If these people had been praised instead of teased because of their slight deviations from the rest of humanity, then perhaps they would be more inclined to help it.2

Instead, I get the feeling they are disconnected; only waiting for a chance to take what they feel they are owed. There are a lot of seething undercurrents of emotion in this world, just waiting to be sparked into something violent.3

I know how they feel. I, too, was teased and bullied throughout my school years for being different. For a time, it led me to detest the other children and the rest of the human race for making me feel so alienated and isolated from it. But then I came to terms with it, and I gradually came to love myself and in turn forgive them for their pettiness. Such people are worthy of your pity, not your hate. After all, they have been conditioned to behave in such a way. It is the people at the top who must be held accountable: the people who have engineered this society for centuries.4

An example of an intelligent but disconnected person who I’ve met here would be my hall mate Chris. He’s a second-year studying history, and he wants to be a politician, but has absolutely no social skills. A lot of the time he sits in his room, brooding, and very rarely does he sit down and eat with us. And yet, he wants to be in a position of power. I think he first needs to come to terms with himself. We can’t keep having grown up children running the show.5

Another example would be Rich, a very intelligent science student who I was briefly friends with for the first couple of weeks here. He is very ‘right wing,’ and we had several debates on control and freedom. His opinion was that people need to be controlled, and he would like to do the controlling. He said people were too stupid to be free. And this is coming from an otherwise very intelligent person. It is a great example of how intelligence is not wisdom.6

An even more disturbing example would be that of George, a mature student who I had a conversation with in the university canteen during my second or third week here. His opinion was that human life is not special, and that China has the right idea when it comes to dealing with people. And this is coming from a man in his forties. I tried to argue for the sanctity of human life and life in general, but how are you supposed to put that across to someone who only deals in terms of logic? It’s something you should just know. Life is sacred, end of. All life is the same energy; an expression of the same thing. I think a lot of these people could benefit from a walk in the woods.7

I hate to keep using the word, but it is scary how we have so many disconnected people in high places. For me, it goes to show how backwards this place is. Honestly, it’s like a circus here.8