Creating Division is Unhealthy

Mainstream media is a huge problem. It seeks to report primarily horrific events and spread doom-filled messages that only further drive wedges between populations. Tragic circumstances in the country are singled out and used as platforms to turn one group of people against another, which only escalates the problems and generates even more heartache.

They are somehow convinced that is what people want, but it in reality that is what they have been conditioning people to watch now for decades, and it only continues to get worse. The media could turn its focus onto more positive stories and resolving conflicts if they choose, yet they do the opposite and keep tearing apart the fabric of our society.

With another Presidential election coming up, the sensationalizing of tragic events to divide our communities will unfortunately get more intense in the coming months. There are repeated streams of hatred spewed through social media outlets as well, which is a direct reflection of the mainstream media stories creating more division.

Unless we want to continue to see civil unrest and senseless violence repeatedly broadcast on 24-hr news networks, it is time for us to make a concerted effort to connect more with others by tapping into ourselves. Working together to help our brothers and sisters, rather than fighting to step over them in a struggle to always be the victor, creates a new appreciation for people and more fulfilling life.

We have the right to open, sensible discourse as a great tool for problem solving. Seeking to understand people who are different from us and their pains and struggles make them more real, and us to them in return. Listen, communicate, have empathy. Having a problem doing so? Look at their children. Are they any less innocent than yours?

Many great leaders, writers, philosophers and spiritualists of the world have carried messages of self-realization and community. I am not attempting to define something new, but instead share a way to hopefully put things into more of a realistic perspective instead of just an idealistic hope. There can be a balance, and as new realities are created we can continue moving toward what would be fully ideal.