We are all on the same side

We are all on the same side. On the left, people have their issues and preferences. Maybe it's minority rights, urban mass transit infrastructure, and affordable rents for the inner city for the average liberal. On the right, maybe the stereotype looks more like a self-sufficient homestead out in the country where they are free to practice their faith with conviction while living off the land. While conservatives and liberals appear to be "polar opposites" the reality is that average people just want the same thing: to be free to express themselves, to believe as they wish without being judged or harmed for it, to be able to afford to live comfortably in their little piece of the world. That's really all there is to it. We aren't on opposite sides - though different people look at life through differing perspectives. The trick is, as long as we rally behind more powerful forces in hopes of fighting against perceived evils, those forces grow, consolidate power, and feed off of our fears. As long as we believe our neighbors are the enemy, there will be manipulative people who will sell us the promise of security in exchange for our hate, our fear, our anger. Outrage is a booming business. The day we stop hating each other, they go bankrupt. So live simply. Live as you wish. Harm no one. Let other people do their thing without judging them. Practice empathy. Because the best thing we can do to defeat "the system" is to practice love and embrace the belief that there is more which unites us all than there is worthy of dividing us.