Meth: a Ticking Timebomb Gone Viral

Us vs Them vs Me

As I rode along my usual route today, the song, 'Us and Them' by Pink Floyd echoed through my brain. The lyrics proposed by PF back in the 70s painted a bleak picture of modern society...a dog-eat-dog morality and a somewhat selfish outlook most of us have been guilty of at some point or another.

I thought about why we humans are, at certain times, like this and the question popped into my head, is this me me me attitude hardwired in our DNA? Is it a reaction to stressful events such as pandemics, climate change or those who look and act differently to us moving in next door? Is racism, xenophobia and bigotry a leftover trait from a bygone era when we needed to beware of those who looked different or had different beliefs to us, just in case they were a threat?

I did a search and found this interesting article...

https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/racism-learned-dna-nature-or-nurture-a9445606...

There are several theories about what happened to our cousins the Neanderthals, but I think it is most likely Homo Sapiens took a disliking to them and by hook or by crook, they became extinct. There remain some humans today who carry the signatures of interbreeding between us and them.

I have always prided myself on standing up for the weak and supporting the underdog. Members of other cultures cannot help being different to us any more than we can to them and racism is something I could never understand or tolerate.

Then one day a family of Aboriginals moved in next door to us and our (my Mom and I) lives became a living nightmare. The nightly drinking, fights and music playing loudly until the early hours of the morning was enough to turn any good-natured and tolerant neighbour into a hater.

Then came the day (refer to Blog I) when I declared war on them. This came after a particularly bad night, and as soon as their music went silent at around 6.00 am, I pushed my lawn mower up to the fence on their side and let them have some of that...and when their bleary eyes came out to see who the inconsiderate person was mowing their grass at such an early hour, I asked them how they liked it (only with some added colourful language that helped them understand my feelings at that point in time a little bit better). Things improved for a while and eventually, they moved out, much to Mom and my relief.

It wouldn't have mattered if they were black, white or purple...inconsiderate neighbours are just inconsiderate people. But those two years did give me a whole new perspective. I now realise that it's easy not to be a racist when they don't live next door to you...and I am ashamed to admit that. But, I have to blame my ancestor's fear for my intolerance.