There are serious divisions that should not be dismissed: an educator’s perspective on the political situation

I love science fiction books, they take you away from reality for a while, and they can also fan the flames of your imagination. Sometimes though, science fiction books can be omens of the future.

I was recently reading a book by a well-known author written a decade ago that started getting me thinking about what is going on around me. FYI, no this is not a political article, it is simply an educated observation of the state of what is going on around us.

The country is divided, it is divided by ideals, legal system, it is divided by politics, and it is important to understand that these divisions are not divisions of extremes. These divisions are and have been the norm for a little while, we have just reached a tipping point, we have reached a point where we are noticing.

It is important that we understand that these feelings did not all of a sudden manifest themselves, these feelings have been building up for decades, these feelings are a part of the fabric of this country. And guess what? As citizens of this country, we are all entitled to our opinions: political, personal, etc. What is missing is respect for each other’s opinion (that went missing a while ago it seems).

Whoever wins this election, this divide will still exist, these feelings will not dissipate like the wind simply because it is the Wednesday after the elections; once again, like it or not, these feelings are real!

Back to the book; in it, was state of existence very similar to what we are experiencing right now, that causes a civil war in the country. It was not necessarily like the war of 1860s, but it was indeed a war, and massive change happened, with massive consequences.

I am going end here by saying, our greatest threats more often are not from the outside, but from within. We can be our own worst enemies, and in this age of social media, we are creating more enemies by how we behave towards one another (look at the comments in political posts).

It is ok to listen to each other; it is ok to disagree with each other; we can do both these things without destroying each other. 

I hope I am wrong.

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam