I reserve your right to tell me what to think

It's funny how the fight for individuality comes at the expense of individuality; it's funny how the cost of diversity is to give up all diversity of thought until we become a collective hive-mind; It's funny how tolerance really means intolerance. Only the names have changed.

A society that feeds on itself will never stand.

When will we realize that other people aren't vehicles for validation of our choices, labels or parking? When do we start respecting others as sovereign beings in their own right, who like us have freedom of thought, belief and choice? 

When do we stop trying to impose our personal views on other people, treating them as if they were some kind of lesser class incapable of coherent thought? When do we just let them be?

Do people have an inherent right to a choice of lifestyle, but not to a deeply held belief which may be a product of a great deal of soul-searching?

Or does one have any right to choose not to be drawn in to a manufactured debate wherein all manner of persons seem to feel it is their duty to 'make up your mind for you' ?

Is it in any way fair to suggest that the only possible motive for any person not being entirely in favour of radical changes to society is that they dearly wish to withhold something good from those who so obviously deserve it?

Is that not merely a form of bullying used by people who wish to force other (ostensibly autonomous) beings to accept 'their' particular world-view? Or, more accurately, is it not a form of strategic, learned behaviour used to bend the will of the masses towards a particular outcome?

On a personal note, I have seen enough childish and petty arguments on both sides of the debate to convince me that this is not something I wish to be a part of.

I also have to admit that I have seen very little of any particular usefulness in the public messages being promoted on either side. Sure, there is a lot of 'peer pressure', but little of any real substance. I don't need people persistently trying to force me to believe that the sky is blue (it isn't. Sometimes it's grey or white or even red).

Despite the desperate attempts to make it appear so, there is not only 'one' side that holds any validity, nor is there a clearly defined 'end goal' in all this. This very kind of shallow, polarizing, binary-thinking argument is what will ultimately divide and destroy us. The reason for this is that we cannot any longer have an open debate about anything. We have lost that ability. We have created self-imposed 'no go' zones in every single important debate that might have helped us to move forward as a society. It is not the deep thinkers and visionaries who hold sway, it is the popular vote - the neatly encapsulated 140 character or less memes that ultimately win the fight. These short, emotive messages lead people to think it can't be anything but an 'open and shut' case because that's precisely what they are designed to do. How much easier is it for the great masses of humanity to play the game of 'pick a card' than to really invest themselves in understanding an issue on all sides? And is it not usually one particular card that is held out at easy reach? And so we are led by the nose, en-masse. But don't take my word for it. Think about it - if you still can.

I'm sorry to say that we are not progressing as a society as long as we sit here demanding things like spoiled children. Is what is good for us necessarily good for everybody, or humanity as a whole?

When do we stop labeling each other and ourselves and start behaving like authentic human beings and stand up and take responsibility for our own lives, and leave others to theirs?

When will we learn to simply coexist peacefully?