Empathy and Fear

Given the horrendous episodes of violence in the USA which the black community have been suffering these past few months and even and regrettably longer than that, I haven't stopped thinking about us as human beings. We always preach to be ONE RACE while there are still people, communities, villages and even cities which do not bear to live among people who are different... DIFFERENT, really? WE ARE HUMAN BEINGS, where is the difference in that? Oh, right. I see: difference in social status, difference in religious beliefs, difference in sexual orientation, difference in the COLOUR OF SKIN.

If not by lack of education, how can anybody ever feel disgust, rage or indifference towards another human being just because they do not look alike, think alike, love alike? This is OUTRAGEOUS. I cannot conceive it.

Education within the family and education in school should be available to everyone everywhere for free. Kids need to learn the basics on empathy and kindness in their families and in their schools. Governments should do anything and everything in their power to make people feel they BELONG as ONE.

Not to make it too long, tedious or repetitive, the topics that I wanted to address today given in the title of this post are cleverly narrated through a monologue given by Oliver Bird in the extraordinary FX series called LEGION. If you haven't watched it, give it a try. You don't have to love superheroes but rather be interested in mental illness and psychology.

The show has an interesting way of telling the story through brief introductions showing amazing images and Jon Hamm or Oliver Bird (character's name) in this clip narrating different psychological concepts in relation to mental illness such as empathy and fear for example.

The following quote is taken from IMDB site and the clip is taken from YOUTUBE. It's the beginning of EPISODE 4 - SEASON 1 and the analogies narrated are in relation to the aforementioned concepts.

Enjoy.

[first lines]

Oliver Bird : Good evening. We are here tonight to talk about violence, or maybe human nature. We are here to talk about human nature. Wait, a quote. A great philosopher [Friedrich Nietzsche] 
once wrote; 

'In times of peace the warlike man attacks himself.' 

This is the root of all our problems, and by this, I mean we. We are the root of all our problems, our confusion, our anger, our fear of things we don't understand. Violence in other words, is ignorance. Figure your shit out, that's what I'd say. 

There are two kinds of stories we tell our children. The first kind; 'Once upon a time there was a fuzzy little rabbit named Frizzytop, who went on a quantum fun adventure, only to face a big setback, which he overcame through perseverance and by being adorable.' This kind of story teaches empathy. Put yourself in Frizzytop's shoes, in other words. The other kind; 'Oliver Anthony Bird if you get too close to that ocean you'll be sucked into the sea and drowned.' This kind of story teaches them fear, and for the rest of their lives, these two stories compete. Empathy and fear. 

And so I bring you tonight's play, the work in five acts about a fuzzy little bunny, who got too close to the ocean. And what happened next, let us begin.

Oliver Bird's monologue