This shouldn't be news to anyone, but over the past few weeks, the more I watch the child-like, immature shenanigans of what we call the election year, I keep seeing intolerance rear it's ugly head. And these ideas of intolerance usually come from those who claim to love this country more than anyone else. Somewhere, in their alledged love of America, they lost the idea of what America actually stands for and what we claim to represent in this world.
In this country, half of our political system is built on a foundation of intolerance. It's built on the ideas that anyone who isn't a straight, white, Christian man shouldn't be tolerated. Anyone who believes that feeding the poor and providing quality, affordable education to our citizens is more important than giving massive, unpaid for tax cuts to the wealthy shouldn't be tolerated. And anything that represents change, even improvements, to our current straight, white, male dominated society structure, should not be tolerated.
It's this firm grasp on intolerance that is keeping this country behind the rest of the developed world. We, as a country, cannot evolve or move forward, until we recognize that the past, is the past, it's over and it's not coming back.
Every time I hear or read some GOP talking head ramble on about the endless list of things that they hate, cannot tolerate, and think are destroying this country that they supposedly love so dear, what they fail to realize is that it's their hatred and intolerance that is actually destroying this country. America was founded as the land of the free - there is no asterisk at the end of that statement, freedom doesn't only apply to straight, white, Christian males.
Intolerance of other's choices, lifestyles, and inate characteristics is what is actually eroding our freedom. Being intolerant of people because of characteristics they were born with is ignorant and a huge waste of time. Even being intolerant of people's lifestyle choices is a fruitless effort. Every person has the right to choose how to live their life. It's no one else's place to judge, criticize, or assault someone's life choices. It all comes down to respect. Respecting your fellow citizen, respecting their choices and respecting that they have a right to live their life how they want. Intolerables have no respect for other's rights to make choices, but when it comes to their own rights, well you damn well better respect them. Do you think they know how hyper-hypocritical they're being or is the irony lost on them?
We are supposed to be the land of the free, no where in the Constitution does it state this only applies to straight, white, males. Brown ladies, gay men, single mothers, poor people - we are all supposed to have the same rights. Having millions of people discriminated against, their freedom's trampled and being verbally assaulted on a regular basis (especially by those who are supposed to stand for their rights in the government) is not how I picture the land of the free.
Intolerance of all things that are different, intolerance of new ideas and intolerance for people's personal choices (which are none of anyone else's business) is what's destroying this country. How someone's sexual orientation, skin color, or financial standings bothers these intolerables so much is a mystery to me, but trying to force this entire country into a mold straight out of the 1950's is what's destroying this country and all the ideals it was founded on. We were always on the cutting edge of humanity, now we're lagging behind every other developed nation. It's clear to me why this is.
Being intolerant is unpatriotic and unAmerican. Intolerance is destorying this country and eroding our freedoms. Respect your fellow citizen's rights and choices. What threatens one person's rights, threatens everyone's rights.