Love Your Neighbour

I have often come across many individuals that think of themselves as the elitist or most exclusive.
Let me give you an example: If you are from the township, you will have noticed the apparent pride that “amajita wase khoneni” (guys from the corner) have. They are proud of who they are and where they are from, believing that they are “the guys” and “can’t be touched”. On the flipside of that coin, they loathe those they like to call ama-kokonut (coconuts) or snobs (these are usually the richer kids from the suburbs).
The ironic thing about this whole equation is that the reverse is true. The feeling that the apparent snobs have for the so called “boys from the hood” is mutual, they don’t like as much as they are not liked.
It is the same with people who drink and their counterparts,
People who smoke and their counterparts,
Virgins and their counterparts,
Native South Africans and (some) of their counterparts,
Born again Christians and their counterparts.
All of us walking the earth must have been guilty of sub-consciously judging people who choose not to do what we do, who choose not to spend time their time like we do.
By demeaning other people’s stance, by using our words to smudge through the picture we have of them, we try to make our stance seem like the one to take. People have a potential detrimental tendency to seek fulfilment. This hunger has driven us into yet another grave tendency: to seek fulfilment by creating false ideas of who and what people are, using them as a pillow (so we can have a finer nights rest).
The point here is not to make anybody feel guilty (after all I too have human tendencies). My problem, as I have mentioned, is that these acts become tendencies…we must learn that as people our stance is not fortified by the supposed inferiority of the one next to me. In fact at that point my stand is weakened, because that theory that has been so deeply entrenched…is false.

As people we should strive at all times to broaden our network. Converse and build relationships with people of different backgrounds, countries and cultures (and if race is still an issue, then race too). It is then, when we understand another’s views and thoughts. We pour into each others minds fluids of knowledge and understanding, relationships are built, gaps are bridged and the world slowly becomes a better place. I would like to conclude by saying: “By underestimating another, you overestimate yourself…and you don’t want to find out the hard way how much you are really worth”
-SGM