It’s a very coddled day and age we’re living in. There is a constant debate between what is politically and socially correct. The way you talk around your friends would be considered grotesque by any other standard.

There’s also the debate between who decides these standards — who is anyone to decide what is or is not appropriate to say. There is an unknown higher-up without a name or face, yet we all live by these standards that have been accepted as the norm. For the most part they keep people in a moral check, but it’s still astounding to think these are followed so closely without ever knowing who instilled them.

There are reasons for most of this — revolving mainly around derogatory terms. It feels as if racism will never die no matter how old it gets. People hate other people based solely on the color of their skin and not by the content of their character. Fine; I would hope Rev. King would be satisfied with the fact that people, for the most part, are able to judge only after getting to know someone and also be content with the fact that he could not convince everyone to share his sentiments.

People who harbor these feelings are few and far between, but still worth mentioning. Blogs give people another outlet for sharing whatever thoughts are running through their minds on any topic they want. Anyone in any state, on any campus can share their opinion and berate a country’s leader because it is within their rights. But people don’t like hearing these opinions. These opinions are detrimental to harmonious living.

But what are people so afraid of hearing; someone speaking their mind? It doesn’t matter who is doing the talking, what political side you lean to or what you do or don’t believe in. Some higher-up somewhere wants you to keep your opinions to yourself. And the real reason why? Because silence is safer than confrontation. It’s easier for everyone to get by if nobody talks to one another. We steer clear from debate and hope nobody sparks a conversation that is going to lead to a quarrel of words. Some believe this way of living life is “peaceful” But peaceful doesn’t necessarily mean better. It’ll just be quieter.

The sad truth is this will never be the case no matter how hard people try. People will never be kept from saying what they feel or reporting what they deem worthy of print. All anyone can hope for is rather than spark hate in anyone’s heart, these questions will instead start a dialogue for people to talk about the issues that matter most to them and have their words heard and emotions felt. And through this, hopefully, all the hate can fall by the wayside.