My eyes are getting sore and losing focus from all the times I’ve rolled them hard while someone says “We need to love each other more” in the wake of another violence or terrorism incident. President Obama has said it. Hillary Clinton has said it. Mayors of cities that have seen attacks have said it. Members of Black Lives Matter have said it. And every time I hear it I wonder if I’ve been magically transported back to 1967 and the Summer of Love.
Here is the list of things that I love: My wife, my family, sports, steak and Jeep Wranglers. That’s it–that’s the list.
I don’t love the people living in the house three blocks over–and yet, I am able to not break in and steal their stuff so I can pawn it to buy drugs. I don’t love police officers–and yet I am able to not take off running when they show up or try to fight and disarm them. I don’t love the French, but I am able to not take a semi and run over hundreds of them as they watch a fireworks show.
We don’t need “more love” to solve our problems. In fact, I would say that we have too much love nowadays. Like the love of drugs so strong that some people are willing to steal from their own parents to buy them. Or a love of authority so great that personal pleasure is derived from making people’s lives miserable by harassing them. Or a love of religion so deeply-rooted that some folks are more than willing to kill a whole lot of people in the name of it.
What we need is more RESPECT for the lives of others and the laws of our lands. I don’t steal, fight or kill because it is illegal–and other people have a right not to be victimized by me. It’s when the rights of those people are chipped away–and we are told that the laws of the land are not fair and can be ignored in the name of “social justice” that we develop the culture that concerns us now.
I know why liberals like to preach “love” as the cure-all. It’s a communal concept. “We all love each other!”. And failure to love doesn’t carry any formal punishment or even deterrence. Meanwhile respect is almost authoritarian in its nature: “You will respect my authority” or “You’re gonna have to earn my respect”. And those who fail to respect the law go to jail or prison.
With all apologies to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, love is NOT all you need.
