I've been seeing a lot of meme's lately on social media about being "proud to be an XYZ" and as usual, I have tried to ignore the ignorance, but after seeing the movie "The Boy In The Striped Pajamas" yesterday with my son, I cannot ignore it anymore.
Let's take a look at the definition of the word "Pride".
"Pride: A feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired."
George Carlin hit the nail on the head when he said. . . “Pride should be reserved for something you achieve or obtain on your own, not something that happens by accident of birth. Being Irish isn't a skill... it's a fucking genetic accident. You wouldn't say I'm proud to be 5'11"; I'm proud to have a pre-disposition for colon cancer.” - George Carlin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeWMtTDy8nI
Please. Let's stop the hoopla of genetic pride. Announcing that you're "proud to be an XYZ", (american/peruvian, black female/white male, heterosexual/homosexual etc.), is like saying "I'm proud to be a brunette with blue eyes and a size 8.5 shoe." It's ridiculous. You had zero participation in ANY of those things. You didn't EARN your genetics, you were BORN with them! As George Carlin says, if ya wanna be HAPPY to be an XYZ, fine! But Proud??? If you must be proud, than be proud of the kind of parent, friend, sibling or employee you are. Take pride in being a person that shows compassion to others, gives to the less fortunate, makes an effort to work on yourself to be better every day or proud to stand up for others who don't have (or haven't yet found) their voice. But remember to take your pride with a dose of humility. We all look the same inside and at the core of our genetic makeup we are ALL human. I know it feels good to "belong" to a group, but group think is one of our most dangerous enemies. If you really want to fight "terrorism", start by ridding yourself of herd mentality, group thinking and following the lies of "Us vs Them" and start thinking for yourself but not only of yourself. Recognize yourself in others but not just others who look like YOU. And instead of pointing out differences and creating superiority, notice all of the similarities we share. We ALL want and deserve to have peace, love, joy and freedom. We ALL deserve to live.
I leave you with this. . .
