There will always be people who are givers and those who are takers. No one race or gender has a monopoly on kindness or cruelty. As long as this vigorous tendency to label and compartmentalize human beings persists, society will not progress beyond the tribalism plaguing us. I’ve been told how to think, feel, and behave for over 60 years now. I’m done with it. Why shouldn’t I be? Aren’t you?

I try to treat others, whoever they may be, how I would like to be treated. I’m not always successful, but I continue to try. It would be great if everyone else felt the same, but I have no control over that. Each of us acts in accordance with our own conscience. Rules and laws can inform our choices, but in the end, we alone decide whether other people matter to us or not. Forced compliance is not conversion. Shaming and blaming results in resentment.