logical thinking in an illogical world
The official homepage of Nicholas J. Nicastro aka donniccolo | open minds | common sense | freedom
This essay challenges the instinct to feel automatic loyalty toward people who share our identity traits such as gender, race, nationality, or religion. It argues that this impulse is simply modern tribalism in new packaging, and that true equality cannot coexist with identity-based favoritism. The piece makes the case for universal humanism, the idea that moral concern should extend equally to all people, regardless of the group they belong to.
The essay confronts the flawed concept of 'race' as a biological reality, asserting it's a social construct that's been debunked by science. It emphasizes that true human diversity lies in cultural ethnicity and nationality, not in 'race.' By recognizing this, and drawing from previous discussions on the topic, the essay advocates for an enlightened perspective that honors our shared humanity over artificial divides.
No one is born a hater. So why are there haters?
Why listen to me when you can learn from an expert?!
How do people simply look at random human being and know from where their family originated?
Bigotry and hatred are not inherent at birth. These are learned or taught - and anything learned can be unlearned.
If racism is bad, so is nationalism.
Intelligence, which is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills, simply is not enough by itself. We must learn to use intelligence in a way that defines us as a person of sound moral character.
The idea that an American is somehow inherently better than anyone else on Earth is ludicrous. I'm not talking about rooting for your favorite athlete in the Olympics; I'm talking about the belief that America and Americans in general are a superior breed of human than non-Americans.
There is only one race: The Human Race. Classifying humans based on skin color is the exact opposite of what Martin Luther King, Jr envisioned when he famously advocated for equality & civil rights. In his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, King envisioned a color-blind society, where people would not be "judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
