People change out of self interest

People change out of self interest

(My Clovis News Journal column for February 24, 2012)

I can't imagine how anyone could be considered to be different in any way that matters- better or worse- just through an accident of birth. No one chooses their skin color or which government claims the territory where they were born. To use either of those to evaluate anyone is absurd, as is the act of judging someone based upon the language they speak. Those things don't figure into inalienable human rights in the least way.

Notice that even those who wrote the Constitution never made the claim that the rights enumerated therein were contingent upon being a citizen of America. They were human rights. They exist in every human the world over just by virtue of being born human. These identical rights exist whether the local government respects them or violates them.

Putting up artificial barriers between yourself and others you consider to be different only hurts you. When you act as though it is "us against them" it makes people defensive. When you demand they change to be what you want, they will usually dig in their heels and refuse. You would do the same.

There are legitimate yardsticks you can use to judge others, if you want to do that. I have no objection to judging people based upon their actions. If they steal or attack the innocent they are not my friend no matter what other traits they may have in common with me. The behavior matters; nothing else does.

Of course, one of the inalienable rights all humans share is the right to associate only with those of your own choosing- at least on your own property. For any reason or no reason at all. You can also hate anyone for any reason, as long as you don't act on that hatred by violating the other person's rights. To make "laws" to the contrary may be well-intentioned, but it doesn't work out well because of the resistance to a "demanded change", as mentioned above.

A better way is to let people do business with whomever they wish, including allowing them to expose themselves as narrow-minded bigots if that is what they want to do. After all, you then have the right to shun them, too. And by eliminating a segment of their potential acquaintances they are hurting themselves and opening up opportunities for the rest of us to step in with welcoming arms. In the long run, self-interest will change more people than anything else.


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