People often categorize themselves and each other according to circumstances. And these circumstances take the role of identifiers, of giving people their identities, and as such, define who they are. This seems like a mistake to me. Our circumstances do not make us who we are—it is rather what we do within, and about, our circumstances that speaks to who we really are.
People talk about “having things in common.” But, these things could be circumstantial or they could be philosophical (opinions, values, beliefs, etc.). Circumstances themselves have little, or nothing, to do with who a person is. As such, people who share circumstances could have nothing whatsoever in common but those circumstances. And yet, throughout history, people have gathered and banded together on nothing more than such circumstances and placed themselves “against” those with different circumstances. This is utterly childish and ignorant.
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From my personal notes, 8/19/99.
