Our Differences Are Tiny

The actual differences between any people are tiny. If a billionaire owning-class person came into RC—none have, so far—and somebody from Tierra del Fuego and someone from Nome, Alaska, got together with this billionaire, and a skillful counselor helped them take turns being listened to, the three would very quickly discover that they’re fundamentally very, very much alike.

We’ve been paying attention in RC to our differences, because the differences are where the patterns hang up, where the oppressions get their claws in. We have been tackling these oppressions and have done a pretty good job of this in many ways by paying attention to the difficulties for which our differences are used as an excuse.

The truth of the matter is, the differences between us are 1/100th of one percent and the similarities are 99.99 percent. There is no person of a different color than you, there is no person of a different class background than you, there is no person of a different cultural background or a different age than you that you cannot understand easily, be completely close to, and thoroughly enjoy a relationship with. We’re all very, very much alike, and if we start acting like it, the barriers will crumble.

Harvey Jackins

From A Better World, page 21

(Present Time 185, October 2016)


Last modified: 2022-12-25 10:17:04+00