We are now approximately one-sixth of the way through the 21st century, and humanity is still faced with the same disease from the time of Cain and Abel; we're still faced with violence. The dictionary definition of disease is that it has distinctive signs and symptoms, and that it causes morbidity and mortality, meaning that it causes injuries or dysfunction or death; which is exactly what violence done. It's a sickness that not only attacks our bodies, but also destroys the physical, psychological, social, and economic health and development of nearly everyone in affected communities, inflicting trauma, reducing life expectancy, limiting possibilities and accomplishments, and further entrenching inequalities. And it's about time we do something about it.

     To say violence is a sickness that threatens public health isn’t just a figure of speech, it's a fact. It spreads from person to person, a parasite of an idea that causes changes in the brain, thriving in certain social conditions; which most of us are more than willing to provide. We generally cast ourselves in a positive light relative to our peers, above all else we believe that we are more just, more honest, more superior than others. We allow hubris and hatred to consume our hearts and minds; thus allowing discrimination and intolerance to thrive in this world; thus allowing violence to spread much like a contagious disease.

     We need to stop thinking that we are better than the people around us. We are all victims of the same world-dominating machine, suffering different mutations of the same contagious disease. Disease which brings us closer to a dystopian society. A society which is ruled by anger, fear, hatred, and suffering. A society in which there is no independence, no freedom, and no personal thought. A society which is rampant with poverty, disease, and filth. The time has come to ask ourselves, "Have we had enough?"

     You see, now it is time for us to choose a side if we haven't already, and to recommit to the fight. There is no more neutrality in this world. You either have to be part of the solution, or you're going to be part of the problem. It's time for all of us to come together as one united people. It's the only way that things will ever get better. It's the only way we will be able to move forward. It's time for a change.