Mutual Self-Sacrifice

     I was once asked what it means to be "in love" by a middle-aged man of Middle Eastern descent at a local bar. He was questioning my partner and I as to how we knew the feelings we shared weren't just feelings of infatuation or simply caring for another person. She and I looked at each, not really sure how to explain the feelings we shared for one another to someone who claimed to have never experienced it personally, while he looked at us, desiring a more substantive answer than "you just know..."
    She had already told him that I was a sociology professor and had a few books in the works. Yet, his conversation was strikingly different than the usual ones that follow such an introduction. He wasn't interested in my knowledge of the social world or anything that I have written about. In a sense, I was dumbfounded. He was obviously a man that enjoyed quests for knowledge as well, but he wasn't interested in intellectual pursuits. He seemed to have a pretty good grasp on those. He was only interested in emotional pursuits. Different than the usual, but nonetheless, as a teacher, I couldn't possibly let his question go unanswered.
     So, in a matter of minutes, I sat in silence, scrounging through my thoughts and emotions, both past and present. I mentally compared my current feelings to those of previous relationships. Quickly, I threw together my best possible response: mutual self-sacrifice. He stood bewildered for a few seconds and then questioned further as to what I meant. I gave him an overview of where my brain was going with it all, but since then, I have put a lot more thought into it, and this what I have come up with.
     What does it mean to be in love? 
     From a religious perspective, the source of unconditional love in human beings comes from the love of God. God provides us the ability to love like s/he loves us and continually provides us examples of that love every single day. God's unconditional love is provided to us through his/her Son, whom was living proof of love through self-sacrifice. When you truly love another person, you are willing to sacrifice yourself, in hopes that they will do the same. If it is a one-way street, that is not true love between two individuals, it is only the love of one individual for another.
     From a non-religious perspective, human beings have a tendency to become selfish. We live in a dark world, where you often times have to place your needs above the needs of others to survive. But a selfish, survival of the fittest mentality, brings no peace to the soul. Only anger. Resentment. Greed. Jealousy. Pure unhappiness. It is when you find that one person that is willing to sacrifice for you, just as much as you are for them, but that neither ever has to sacrifice anything for because you both want the other completely unchanged, that your soul finds true peace. That feeling of peace from the willingness for mutual self-sacrifice and putting the needs and desires of another human being above your own is because your heart has truly fallen in love.
     Also, humans have the tendency to be attracted to those that are different than them. We are fascinated by that which is everything we are not. We seek balance in our lives. But that "different" doesn't function or think the way we do. You probably won't have the same career types, hobbies, interests, passions, musical tastes, food tastes, etc. So, what starts out as an uncontrollable fascination that pulls you towards another person's soul, eventually becomes a conscious choice every day.
     You make the choice to continue to love someone through mutual self-sacrifice to ensure that a relationship filled with true love doesn't disappear. You express interest in the things that interest your partner. You try to become involved in their interests and hobbies. You go do the things they want to do, no matter how much you hate them. It is very easy in committed relationships for people to lose themselves if they are the only one that is doing the sacrificing and putting in the work, but if both people are sacrificing and putting in work, they each ensure that they keep the other person's true self alive. And alas, never fall out of love.
     So, what does it mean to be in love? Mutual self-sacrifice.
   

Sincerely, A Concerned Wealthy American: A Satire on Colorado's Legalization of Marijuana

Dear our prized American government - the puppets that run this country for us:

     Please tell your other pimps, the wealthy citizens, such as myself, making all of the decisions for you, while you do all our dirty work, that there is a major problem in this country that can't be ignored any longer. Colorado & drugs. Not the high-end, white powder shit we all partake in. That's not a drug. That's a fucking gift from God. But that cheap shit the masses use. That shit that Colorado unjustifiably and ignorantly legalized fairly recently. Mary Jane. Please tell me you haven't been too high yourself to pay attention to what's going on there.

     Just in case, let me brief you. Since Colorado legalized Mary Jane, less people are getting locked up for petty drug charges, and their economy is booming. Fucking. Booming. So much so that the tax revenue there is so enormous, they are considering passing some of that wealth back to the citizens. Are you kidding me? That bullshit is un-American.

     First of all, there is plenty of room left in the jails in this country. Overpopulated? Please. If those prisoners were forced to live in facilities similar to those we helped the Nazis build during WWII, they would be thanking us. Just start doubling up the inmates in each cell if space gets tight. They already have more rights and receive better treatment in there than they should, so fuck their rights. Those animals deserve less anyways. And we need those petty drug users locked up. Why? Because the far majority of them are poor, and we need the poor controlled and isolated. And a lot of them also happen to be racial minorities, and well, that's just icing on the cake. Racism and social control of the poor. That's American.

     Secondly, who cares if it generates enormous revenue? We need massive debt to keep the masses dependent on the system put in place by us - the powerful. Dependence spawns control. We can't have resistance. We can't have people bitching and moaning about how much power and wealth we have. I would like to retire to my multimillion dollar home in peace every night. Not to mention, the more revenue there is, the more they want from us! The don't need anything else. Wealth inequality and blind patriotism. That's American. How else are we supposed to control the masses and acquire unchecked wealth?

     Lastly, who cares if we, too, use drugs, and our founding fathers smoked and grew Mary Jane? That's us. Not them. Those with wealth and power are immune to the law. Maybe they should become one of us. Oh wait...chances are they won't now because we killed the American Dream years ago. Hypocrisy. That's American.

     As you can see, Colorado and their legalization of marijuana is absolutely un-American and a threat to our power. It must be dealt with immediately before it sparks a movement, and we have a much bigger problem to deal with. Demands for a government by the people, for the people. Demands to overthrow the oligarchy we have worked so hard to establish and the implementation of true democracy and freedom that the masses have thought they've had all along.

     For that reason, I propose throwing Colorado out of the union. They've shown their lack of patriotism for the magnificent ideals and values this great country was founded on. It is time that they go. I hope you and the other wealthy individuals in this country will agree.

Sincerely,
A Concerned Wealthy American