‘Our side is the good side, and your side is the bad side.”

How amazing the human organism can be. “My side wears blue and yellow.” “Oh yeah, well my side wears black, red, white, and green.” It is often comical to find one’s existence within a nation that has its children recite “indivisible” when so many factions exist.

Some may protest by bending a knee, while others stay seated during the Pledge of Allegiance. These non-verbals take the place of words too feared to be uttered. What are those words? Well, perhaps that America as a society has already fallen. Perusing through precedent and constitutional law is so boring, right? Why would anyone want to waste time trying to understand the fabric of what maintains our peaceful coexistence, when the sports game is being played? Give us entertainment, don’t give us rhetoric.

However, history is the best teacher, and individuals do in fact seek out this knowledge when circumstances present them with barriers to such treasured fun and leisure. Empathy with those losing their homes and lives to conflict is one thing, but having direct connections with victims of warfare is quite another.

It has been stated that war is good for the economy, but money doesn’t buy happiness. Developing world conflicts not only put a damper on the tourist industry, they empathically decrease our thirst for enjoyment. Collective grief is the order of the day — though look on the bright side, at least the stock market is up.

Ahmad Esfahani

Greenfield