I am one… in more ways than you can imagine. I was born one and grew up as one in the country of my birth – a minority. Now that I live on the other side of the world that status hasn’t changed.
At the age of 4 months, after contracting polio that left a physical defect, my fate as “other” was sealed for life. The fact that I chose a life in the arts made it even more so… especially coming from a part of the world where my “impractical choice of career” often garners pitiful head-shaking smiles.
Even while growing up and visiting my “village” of the Portuguese Eurasian community in Malacca I felt an otherness simply because I never spoke the Kristang “mother tongue”. There was also growing up Catholic in a predominantly Muslim nation.
So, I am an other. There have been times when that has subjected me to bullying and/or various forms of discrimination. At other times it has served me well and wasn’t an issue… and even celebrated for it.
Conclusion? There are pros and cons to being an other. (By the way… if you really think about it… you are an “other”… we ALL are.)
Why am I bringing this up? Because the world seems to be going through a collective nervous breakdown… and the biggest victims by far are “the others”.
Be it the Syrian refugee situation, the daesh ugliness in the middle east, the current political machinations of race and religion in Malaysia and around the world as well as the Donald Trump bandwagon that too many are jumping on at an alarming rate… it is all about demonizing “the other”.
All of which is fueled by a greedy power-grab predicated on fear – ALL OF IT!
Now it seems if you don’t belong to the majority be it in race, belief (or non-belief), political persuasion, sexual orientation, etc … you are an “other” and you’d better watch out.
More and more it seems we are sliding down that spiral of tragic consequences in a mounting irrational madness each day. In the city and county that I live in there have been tragic incidents resulting from this frightening wave of “other hating”. The sad thing is those are not the only incidents.
When I have brought this up in conversation even my friends of a more accepting ilk say, “Well, whoever did it is an ignorant idiot!” Well, guess what? That isn’t going to change anytime soon… mainly because most would rather consume what they already believe.
We are currently living in a “black & white… you are either for us or against us” age of absolutism. The respectful exchange of views and ideas is becoming less and less common. If you have an “other” point of view you are either ostracized, demonized or ridiculed.
The sad thing is that “political leaders” are providing that elusive “justifying” license to commit violence via their stoking the fear of “the other”. That common message is… “You will become marginalized… and become an ‘other’ if you don’t.”
Ironic, eh?
What is sadder is that once reasonable thinking people are sliding down that spiral with greater and greater numbers and momentum. And sadder still… is that critical thinking and healthy discourse has been obscured by aggressive misinformation.
Haven’t we all seen this ugliness before in recent history? Haven’t most of us shook our heads in sadness over the tragic results of it?
Haven’t we vowed “never again” more times than we care to remember?