Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated.
Martin Luther King, Jr. 1958
MLK made an excellent point here. It’s a point I’ve made before, as well. It’s rare that I run across someone who WANTS to take another citizen’s liberties just for the sake of taking them. Those people are out there *cough* government *cough*, but they are rare. Instead, most people I’ve met that have a view that seems anti-liberty hold those views because they fear something. They fear each other, they fear their own rights will be taken if they don’t strike first, or they fear unknown circumstances. MLK’s reference to being separated is in reference to segregation, but, ironically, we are just as separate today. Urban vs. rural, poor vs. rich, black vs. white, female vs. male vs. everything else, and so on. We think things like 24/7 communication via the news cycle or social media has eliminated our separation from each other, but it’s made it worse. We sit behind keyboards and screens and put others down and stir up fear and hate towards one another. All the while, those who would indeed have your freedom for the sake of more power gleefully watch as we destroy each other. Remember that this MLK Day.