This I Believe

I believe in humanity.

I have no heartfelt tale to base my feelings on. There is no defining personal experience that thawed my cynical heart and changed my life forever, no single being who influenced me in such a revolutionary way. I simply cast my die in favor of man, with not a glance at the odds. I simply believe in human potential.

People will get knocked, or even beaten down from their aspirations. That's just a given of life. No matter how hard and long you practice or study or prepare, somewhere down the road, there will be someone superior to you, stronger, faster, smarter, sharper, better. Again, I don't need personal experiences to glean that little life lesson from my meager eighteen years. Who can claim to have truly lived without having once drowned in defeat? However, that's what I believe in: the insurmountable natural tendency for humans, no matter how battered and broken, to rise up, dust themselves off, shoot the bird, and keep walking. Some people may call it a gesture of futility, or even stupidity, and shower the defeated with cutting derision, but so too will there always be people in the world who kneel beside them and help them stand. Even if it is only to be bested once more, I can't help but admire the human ability to struggle up a staircase of defeats until you or I or anybody is able to achieve their goals and dreams.

But then the pessimist asks me, "How can you believe in a species so monstrous as humans?" which merits, "The same way you and I exist, brother mine," from the optimist. Humans hurt each other, humans kill each other, and humans destroy each other. I know that.

Humans are the single greatest harbinger of negativity to other humans. I know that.

We spread heinous lies and hide the deepest truths whenever it best suits our own interests. We pull no punches to even the most pitiable and handicapped foe. If a friend, dear or not, comes to us in search of help, we swiftly calculate how best to reap profit from the plight of another. If an entire other country possesses something we desire, we will slaughter any number of people in order to claim it for ourselves, and we will do the same to people of our own country, with not the slightest hesitation.

I can't even log on to Facebook anymore without seeing something that utterly disgusts me, much less turning on the TV and watching local or national news. Humans will sacrifice anything, even themselves, to get what they want.

But, just as all I have said is true, the very opposite holds true just as well. Dark deeds gain their definition from the light. Just as humans destroy life for any reason, or even no reason, so too do humans save it.

I believe in hope.