Sumthin’s wrong with it,

Sumthin’s wrong with it,

Sumthin’s wrong with the wuh wuh world.....

I am a fairly easy going person.  I tend to take people on face value and I like to come to my own conclusions about what kind or person they are.  I don’t care what age, race or religion they are and they’re lifestyle choices are their own to make.  As long as they are not hurting anyone or anything, they are making choices of their own free will and they are not trying to force their ideas or ideologies down my throat, then I accept their choices.  I may not agree with their views or ideals, but I defend their right to live as they wish.  And this is what I feel is seriously wrong with society today.  There is a lack of tolerance and an enormous lack of respect not just for other people, but also our environment.

Respect and tolerance go hand in hand.  If you do not respect the differences of other people - sex, age, race, lifestyle, society and customs - then how can you have tolerance towards those differences?    I know there are some customs and rituals that cannot be tolerated as they cause pain and suffering against other people, especially women.  But is it not the lack of respect for women in those societies that lets the custom or ritual continue??  Respect is a simple word with a simple meaning, but its impact on people's lives is enormous and far reaching and all intricately connected by morals.

Basic respect for yourself leads you to live a life governed by your morals.  It lets you make decisions and choices that you feel you are worthy of and that will enhance and impact on your life with a desired effect.  People with no self respect have limited or damaged morals.  How can they have self respect when they use, abuse and inflict pain and suffering?  They abuse themselves and others, sometimes with devastating effect.  Drug and alcohol abuse, environmental misuse, crime and corruption have been on a steady rise.  Disrespect for themselves, humanity, society and their surroundings have a flow on effect.   People who commit crime have no respect for society or its boundaries.  They abuse the system and the law.  They disrespect their victims causing fear, heartache, pain and sometimes death.  By committing a crime they show no respect for themselves and therefore become their own victim.  Self abuse in its simplest form.  A classic Catch 22

If people started working on their own self respect and started looking more closely at the things they say, the things they do and the respect they give and receive, then I think there would be a lot more tolerance in the world and a lot less pain and suffering.  Think about racial slurs, misconceptions about other races, your environmental footprint, the way you interact with other people, the remarks you may think or make and the impact this all has on your children as they learn their behaviours from you.  The longest journey starts with the smallest step...are you nurturing respect and tolerance through your thoughts and actions....or are you contributing to the oppression of people’s basic rights and the destruction of our beautiful world?