Tonight, I was filling out college applications and one of the questions in a supplementary was, "What do you think is the biggest problem the United States is facing today?" I expect many applicants said " the energy crisis" or "China industrially surpassing us" or I don't know, "the man" trying to keep us all down. But do you know what I think the biggest problem in America is today? A lack of respect. The idea that some people have programmed into their minds that they are better than someone else and because of that superiority, they have the authority and responsibility to make sure everyone knows about it. This is the hole in the hull that is sinking the ship.

Just tonight, I was watching a program on a news broadcast, and a clip showed the newscaster actually yelling at the politician he was interviewing, and another called his opposition a "fat slob". What is that saying about our idea of how people should be treated? If they have different views than you, you should humiliate them. If they say something you don't agree with, you should insult them?

Think about the kid at school getting teased everyday because they're too scrawny, too tall, too busty, too short, too fat, too gay, too smart, too anything! And why? Because that bigger kid thinks that victimized child doesn't deserve their respect. What about that person on welfare who gets slammed for taking all our money and spending it on drugs and alcohol and other ridiculous things? Obviously they are less than the ones who are out there supporting themselves, so they don't need any respect either, right? Wrong.

I'm talking to all the haters out there now. Number one, you may think you're smart and all knowing, but you have no idea what's going on with these people. Everyone has hardships, and everyone comes from different backgrounds, somehow or another. Sure maybe they're poorer than you. Before you tease them, think about those circumstances, and how they have been changed and affected by them. Before you slam on someone for being ultra conservative, ultra liberal, ultra alien, consider their point of view, and how yours must look in their eyes as well.

Number two, we are all the same. In personality, intelligence, emotion, most likely not, but biologically, we are made of the same elements and compounds. We are not the white ones, the black ones, the Jewish ones, the Agnostic ones, the Muslim ones, the straight ones, the gay ones, the poor ones, the purple ones. We are the human ones. And we are the same. That person you are hitting because you have no respect for them is just like you! That person you talk bad about is made of the same four amino acids as you, and you could just as easily be in their position.

So, "What do you think is the biggest problem the United States is facing today?" For me, respect. But does it always have to be that way? I challenge you this: rise above. Be the best of humanity for yourself, for your country, and for the human race. Make yourself the shining city on the hill, the example for all! Because I know every one of you out there, the instigators and the victimized, have that potential. In short, be kind to each other.