Diversity is the number one attribute which makes humans unique and the number one reason why we fight so much.

Think about your social life. Chances are, at one point in time, you were either fighting to fit in or fightng to be different. There’s a problem with this. The problem lies in the collective. While you were trying to fit in there was undoubtedly someone trying to fit you in, someone letting you do whatever you want, and someone trying to make you unique. The people trying to fit you in are working against diversity; they are trying to make you a copy of the in crowd. The more people who are alike, the less diversity. The person trying to make you unique is probably working against diversity as well, they just don’t realize it. They may be trying to help you become genuinely unique. Or, they may be trying to make you the opposite of the in crowd; what they consider unique. The latter is what troubles me.

There are groups of people all over the globe who want you to be like them. There’s Christians, Jews, and Muslims. There’s Democrats and Republicans. There’s Conservatives and Liberals. There’s those for the death penalty and those against it. It really doesn’t matter what side you’re on, there’s two things you wish: that those on the other side would join your cause, and that those on your side whom you don’t like would switch sides. But if everyone wants everyone to join their side, their cause, their viewpoints just what happens to diversity?

We could look at diversity and define it with physical attributes and subjective opinions. For example, the school where I work has a student body consisting of mostly white students. We do have some students of different ethnic and racial backgrounds. However, our diversity level is very low compared to the public middle school. They have students of many races and ethnic backgrounds. They are diverse, right? Perhaps diversity is not simply about race. It is also about a wide availability of different activities. My school does not have a diverse sports program, at least not compared to the public school. We also don’t have a lot of clubs or other chances for our students to delve into activities, sudo-sports, outreach programs, or other interests. So, our list of extracurricular activies is not diverse; compared to the public school.

But what about fashion? Attitude? Morals? Ethics? If all the Conservatives want everyone to be Conservative, that means they want people to adopt their morals or beliefs about the world economy, environmental issues, political views, and whatever they consider to be social reform. But if everyone was conservative, there would be no diversity in these areas. Everyone would agree on the laws and there would be no discussion about laws and whether they are constitutional or how to spell out the law or what happens if you break the law. We’d all be like the community in the book “The Giver.”

In “The Giver” the community is all about sameness. Emotions have been stripped from the world. Death, starvation, suffering, and all things negative have also been stripped from the world. But at what cost? Genuine happiness, joy, and love have also been stripped from the world. Everyone is compliant. Everyone does what they’re told. It sounds nice, until you think, “what if a child wants to become a scientist instead of a birth mother; what happened to the people who enjoyed dancing or playing music; how did the council get rid of those who opposed sameness?”

Diversity is awesome! If life was not diverse, we wouldn’t have all the plants and animals we have. If life was not diverse, what do you think would happen to our creativity? Think of all the entertainers and speakers you ever saw in school. Think of all the field trips you went on in school. Chances are, something like that caused you to become interested in one field or another and eventually pursue a career of your own choosing. No diversity, no long list of careers. Just the short list that the people in charge deem necessary. Diversity allows us to grow and change because we are learning new things. Celebrating diversity encourages children to grow as persons as well as productive members of society. Or not.

Some people actively take a stand against diversity. They want children to fall into a category they can understand. They want people to be compliant. We should all follow the law – and if we don’t agree with the law, we should work within the legal system to get it changed. But we shouldn’t be forced to do something we don’t want to do. We should be free to be who we want to be. We should be free to do what we want. And for the most part (in the USA, anyway) we are.

And that’s why we can’t get along. The USA is a free nation or free thinkers doing whatever they desire. Other nations or groups are far less open to free thinkers. Even people in America have tussles with each other. We are free to think for ourselves – free to be diverse – and this causes us to think different from one another. These differences are often not tolerated, especially when it seems to interfere with our own freedoms, or if it looks like something which will impact children. So people fight over this. There’s also those who wish to prove themselves, those who think they’re better than others, and those who just can’t stand by and watch things play out they way they are anymore. So, we fight. It’s as simple as tolerance, but not quite. Why can’t we all just get along? Because we’re all human.