I’ve been sitting here, watching videos about the recent school shooting, and I just can’t stomach the thought that this is the world we live in. There are so many beautiful things in this world, so many things that make me happy to be alive, things that fill my entire being with joy, but right now, I’m having trouble thinking of any of them.

Because there are also so many things that make me want to cry. Children being are murdered for going to school. People are being treated differently for the color of their skin. People aren’t being given the same opportunities because of their gender. There are terrorist attacks that leave so many innocent people dead, and then there’s the resulting islamophobia. People are being shot by the police officers that we entrusted with our safety, and the police that truly are good are being treated with disrespect and given a bad name.

It’s 2018 and instead of trying to bring people closer together, we’re building walls to keep us apart.
We should not have to be afraid to go to school. We should not have had three bomb threats made within my school district in the past year. We should not have to mourn the losses from yet another school shooting. We should not have to be begging the president to do something about it, and we should not be practicing barricading the door in the event of an active shooter. This shouldn’t just be accepted.

Terrorism is a terrible issue in today’s world, and we should be fighting it as hard as we possibly can, but tell me why when a muslim is the terrorist, the entire religion is blamed, but now, after how many white shooters we’ve had, the entire white race isn’t suffering? On top of the attacks on public safety, so many of this country's citizens are suffering at the hands of islamophobia. There are children are getting cussed at because they wear the hijab, places of worship are being vandalized, and parents are having to raise their children in a world of hate. Tell me, do you really believe that the 12 year old muslim girl that lives next door has anything to do with the attacks that violent, grown men that are on the other side of the world are carrying out? Do you honestly, in your heart, believe that? A lot of terrorists are muslim, yes. But nowhere near most muslims are terrorists. There are over 6 million muslims in the world, so if that were true, we wouldn’t stand a chance anyway. You are helping no one by treating others so horribly. 

Saying all muslims are terrorists is like saying that all white men are rapists. You probably know multiple white men, but do you think they’re all rapists? No? But most rapists are white men…
Do you see the flaw in that logic?

And as long as we’re on the topic of rape, can I just say that I am sick and tired of rape culture being accepted into today's society.. I am tired of being scared to walk home alone in the dark, I am tired of being told to carry a rape whistle on the college campus, I am tired of being catcalled, I am tired of being disrespected, and I am tired of being told by men that rape culture doesn’t exist.

I’m tired of privileged people telling others that their struggles don’t exist.
Men telling women.
White people telling minorities.
Straight/Cis people telling LGBT people.
Gun owners telling victims and their families.
Healthy people telling the mentally ill.
Christians telling muslims.
And everyone needs to learn how to stop. How to stop talking, and stop telling, and just listen. So many people are crying for help. So many people just want to be treated fairly, and with respect, and with love. So many people are not being treated fairly, and with respect, and with love. And so many of us are so busy ignoring it, that we just add to the problem.

Don’t get me wrong, there are so many things in the world that I love, but I do not love this world. It’s impossible to love this world when it is filled with so much hate. Everybody-- every. single. person. in this world-- needs to stop talking, and stop fighting, and just listen. Listen and learn. Because everyone can stand to learn to love just a little bit more.

Right now, we need to be bringing people together. Helping one another.

Did you know that there are people in Oshkosh without homes, that get kicked out of the homeless shelter every morning at 4 AM, regardless of weather? There are people that beg for money, anything to help keep them warm, full, and hydrated, but people walk right past them, writing them off as a fraud. People tell their kids to ignore them, that they’re probably faking it. But what if their not? What if they’re just trying to buy a meal for their kid? And before you say that if they want money, they should just get a job, did you know you can’t get a job without an address? Yet you can’t get an address without a job. And is the $2 they’re asking for really going to affect you financially?

Have you ever considered the fact that you are probably privileged in some way? That no matter your situation, there’s probably someone who has it worse than you? And maybe, instead of denying the existence of your privilege, you can spend your time using it to make a difference, and help those who are less fortunate than you. If there’s one thing in this world that everyone should be able to agree on, it’s that everybody deserves to have some love in their life. So just do the world a favor and stop hating so damn much.