SEPARATED BY 6 DEGREES

Perspective for your consideration…

.The article in the Sunday – 8-3-08 - issue of the Arizona Republic entitled … SEPARATED BY 6 DEGREES…? YES … is a notion we might choose to reflect upon…?

It strikes me that whether any two strangers on Earth are separated by 6 degree or 15 degrees, this finding seems to strongly suggest we are all incredibly interconnected and interdependent. This notion could prove embarrassing to those who dwell assigning labels such as the “axis of evil” to certain folks in an attempt to separate them from us.

The more we choose to contemplate, evaluate, study, consider, think and reflect upon all aspects defining humans, the clearer it becomes how closely we are connected physically, emotionally and perhaps even spiritually.

To create the separateness necessary to promote and maintain the threat of terrorism, ever increasing and more sinister levels of “fear” are required along with some tangible method to infuse this fear on a gullible populous. A populous that is aware of the very small margin of separation between all the peoples of the world are “feared” by the very leaders promoting this fear based travesty.

The separateness promoted by many so-called world leaders is at best – petty – based upon color of skin, language, customs, while underlying all these aspects we share common DNA characteristics. As we are acculturated we develop and manifest those specific emotional characteristics thought to be unique to our specific culture. These over time become the labeling mechanism used by leaders to differentiate them from us. Hitler used them to label the Jews, George Bush used it to label the Middle East and a select few, the axis of evil and moreover every day we permit false labels to be indiscriminately applied to define humans afflicted with autism, Asperger Syndrome, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) as well as a host of other health anomalies.

Americans in particular love – labels – as they allow us to package everything placing it into specific boxes, thereby becoming readily identifiable, easily removed when deemed personally necessary to be hoisted up to remind everyone of what they perceive as different and therefore – separate – something to be feared.

Without separateness it is incredibly difficult for government leaders to perpetuate – fear. One can hope that America is ready to move beyond the irrational – fear – which has veiled our nation now for nearly eight years.

FDR, though far from perfect was “right on” when he said … all we have to fear, is fear itself …