No Wizards

Being a citizen of the world is hard.

It’s just tough to see each other,

to realize that we’re all just trying to get into

a comfy bed at night and not get murdered by life.

It is not at all that easy to be a person in this place.

We make it so hard on each other.

We always have. Based on the most

inconsequential differences possible.

Even if everyone was exactly the same,

I’m sure we’d find a way to piss each other off.

It’d be about what we’re wearing, or where we live,

or who has the best batting average.

It’s all nonsense buried in our minds that we

have to protect what is ours as individuals, and not what

is ours as an entire species. A manipulated fear

response to that mysterious thing creeping in the dark.

Is it the Devil?

Is it a wild pack of animals?

It is Zombies?

Is it Walt Disney back for our souls?

Do we shout from our huts, “We can’t let you drink

from our well, that’s ours. I mean, I know we as a

species all need water to survive, but you;

we irrationally fear you, so you can’t have any of this water.”

I’m certainly not an innocent in this behavior.

I’m just as flawed in my preconceived perceptions.

I have not always been so open or so dreamily

wishing for a world of fearless equanimity.

I judge and get angry at other global citizens,

I have little patience for arrogant ignorance,

or mindless prattling on about the inanest subjects;

Evolution has conditioned me to be rationally fearful of real threats, and respond.

It likely helped me in my early life like a safety system;

otherwise I probably would have gotten into

every colorful van in which the driver was offering

me free candy, puppies and rocket rides.

But there’s certainly a difference between rational fears

of being kidnapped or murdered, and irrational fears like being

magically brainwashed into changing my sexual orientation because I used

the same bathroom as a non-binary individual.

There’s a monumental difference between a rational

fear, like being killed on the highway while driving to

work; and an irrational fear like an undocumented

immigrant eating my brains while wearing a beard of bees.

Fear is the reasonable and rational response to

danger. It’s an appropriate reaction to serious

threats to our person. It is reasonable to react strongly

to real threats.  It’s wrong to make up threats.

Made up threats, like homosexuality corrupting children, or

immigrants stealing your jobs, or that women are incapable

of making their own choices about their bodies;

it’s all just wrong.

Fictional threats are a perversion of our evolution as a species,

not as a race or nationality, or even identity. We are one

species that has to deal with the reality of our

world and the actual threats that will kill us.

Choosing to deal in fantasy and wild,

unfounded speculation does no one

any favors. It cheapens us as a species,

debases us as people and drives all the hate we don’t need.

Unless like, Wizards started appearing and

started dropping dragons all over us,

I’m pretty sure we could all get on board the anti-Wizard

platforms.  Am I right?