During the course of human events, struggle is universal. At no point can we find a single human social relationship without some sort of social struggle or conflict. Whether it be a family or a sovereign state, the diversity in opinion, beliefs and/or priorities leads to some sort of struggle between opposing viewpoints.

At some point in our lives, we find that we enjoy the company of alike characters. Our time is more productive when we surround ourselves with others of the same world-view. Our inherent dignity as humans provides us with a strong sense of autonomy in an inter-dependent world. These opposing forces in life provide the group dynamic called “Politics.”

Occasionally, in time we hear stories of acts of bravery. We know that these struggles in an political-economic sphere, when enough is at stake, have lead to the death of Robert and John Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, Malcolm X, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and even Socrates. In fact, the principles of reason and ethics that Socrates was executed for preaching are now the ideological foundations of Western Society and its remarkable expansion.

But such is the poetic truth of those who cross lines. For above the greatest thinker is the lowest leader. Great ideas alone prove worthless and hypocritical. Why write when one can act? Recently, I have witnessed the tragic occurrence of watching a people, supposedly united, torn apart by hate and rage. When leaders of a cultural center on campus attempted to take integrative measures inside the university, their supporters claimed they were “traitors”.

One leader asked me why this was going on. I told him this, “My friend, this is the cost of progress. Your ideas are right-minded and, almost seemingly therefore, unpopular. But this is the path of a leader; one of solitude and fractualizations. Most people see yesterday as what defines today; leaders see today as what defines tomorrow.”