Most of us are born and live our lives in the general understanding that people are pretty much the same. Our parents teach us to treat other children with respect and to share our toys. In school the teachers reinforce these ideas with concepts of fairness in the classroom. We all exist inside our own fragile little shells, and we perceive that other people are very much like ourselves. Everyone knows what it feels like to love another or to feel pain or to cry. It seems we all simply have different vantage points, and perspectives, on the same basic experiences. Nothing could be further from the truth.
As we grow older, it becomes quite obvious that humanity exists within a very wide and diverse spectrum. Instead of having a core group that represents the characteristics of the masses, it is actually very much divided. The most startling aspect of humanity is the way each person may view others around them that are outside of their own “being”. On one hand, we have people that sincerely care about the wellbeing of others. They lift up their fellow man in all that they do. Many tend to the sick or people in need. It literally hurts them to know that someone else is suffering. They exhibit a characteristic known as “compassion”.
On the opposite end of the playing field, we have those that have no compassion for anyone, regardless of who they are. Whether parents or brother and sister; classmate or friend; even lovers have no special place in their hearts. These people have the inability to feel beyond themselves. These are the narcissists. They somehow feel entitled to everything and yet give nothing in return. From a career perspective, these are the people that typically strive to achieve positions that invoke “power”. Make no mistake, what makes them feel good inside and fulfilled, is to know that they have power over another being.
It is possible to find people so disconnected with humanity, that they have no issues causing emotional and physical harm to others. We do not have to look very far to see people evicted from their homes for being delinquent in their mortgages. Medications are developed that can cause serious addiction, injury, or even death. Wars are orchestrated all over the world, and millions die, to acquire land or minerals or oil. The common denominator is that money drives all of it. Money is the root of all evil. The people that engage in these nefarious acts are not likely to discuss humanitarian principles over a bargaining table. They simply do not care. This is why God gave angels swords. Because sometimes you have to speak to people in their own language.