Labeling and branding

THE practice of labeling and branding is a fact of life. But I personally don’t quite like it, especially when applied to people, precisely because it tends to confine and stereotype us.

We are persons, not things, not animals. As such, we are intelligent beings and free spirits that could not and should not be reduced and straitjacketed to a set image or type.

There may be something permanent in us, or characteristics that are stable, but we should never forget that we also change, and in fact in certain aspects, we need to change.

We have to learn to grapple and blend these two facets. It’s no easy task, and given their ticklish linkage and the profuse confusion around, we really need to have the appropriate understanding and skills to carry it out.

Of the permanent category would be our nature as rational beings, as persons with intelligence and will, and as beings subject not only to reason but also to faith. We also are social beings, and not just individuals. These should always be a given, and continually reinforced.

But alas, nowadays and especially in some supposedly thinking circles, a few of these permanent features are doubted and questioned. Categories that used to be traditionally or culturally obvious and taken for granted are now put in reservation.

Our more stable characteristics would be in the area of our character, personality, social background, IQ, physical and biological constitution, etc. In our dealings with one another we should also consider all these to attain greater propriety in our relations.

But there are many things that change. Flux dominates our physical and affective life. And this is more so in our ideas, thoughts, desires and plans. And yet in this flow, certain steady traits can be noted, giving rise to the need for labeling and branding.

This is where we have to be most careful. This practice of classifying, pigeonholing and packaging should be pursued with the constant awareness that there are elements in us that change, or are capable of changing and should change. This needs frequent self-checking and self-renewals.

Especially in our social life, and in politics to be more specific, this unavoidable business of labeling and branding has to be pursued with extreme care.

Now that our politics is entering a more intriguing phase, especially in the more developed countries like the US where politics is increasingly reflecting a culture war, we need to be most charitable.

There, it is common to brand people as either conservative or liberal, right-wing or left-wing, etc. While there are valid reasons to do so, we should not allow this labeling to deteriorate into name-calling, insulting, carping and things like those.

We need to continually remind ourselves in our political discussions that we are dealing with persons, and not just a faceless crowd, a mob that can be treated without attention to refinement and charity, or mere points. We are all brothers and sisters, all children of God.

Our differences and conflicts should not undermine this basic requirement. Thus our Lord put it as the acme of charity to “love your enemy.” We just have to find a way to resolve our differences with patience, knowing that truth and charity cannot and should not be separated.

We have to go beyond top-of-mind responses, and learn to process and deliberate our reactions. We have to be good-mannered always, seeing to it that our emotions, while allowed to show always, should be under control.

Our arguments and reasons should be crafted with clear orientation to the common good. We have to learn to listen to one another, and to be magnanimous. We have to purify our discussions of any accumulating traces of resentment and bitterness.

The forcefulness with which we infuse our views, if we know, can be done with affection. It can even be given with a dash of humor. The result will always be a smashing hit that gladdens everyone, including our opponents.

What is more, discussions under these conditions facilitate the search for more fruitful and useful findings. They also foster solidarity among ourselves so we can attain our common good more easily.