11/01/2026
It's good sometimes to think
of all human beings as the same.
We're born, we drink, we eat, we live
we love, we die. We're all the same, we might say.
But then there are times
when I think, but are we?
Are we the same?
Take this:
I often think about other countries
especially those I've been to or lived in:
France, Scotland, Australia, Ireland, Germany
Wales, Italy, the US, Netherlands.
I think of mountains, valleys, shops,
people, languages, beaches, food.
But now,
pressing on me from the News
are ways that some other people think
about other countries.
I hear how they think about Gaza,
Greenland, Venezuela,
These are not places to visit
or discover or learn about.
They are places to seize,
invade, control, exploit.
The people are not people to chat with
sit and eat with
to swap stories with.
They are to be shot, bombed,
despised, removed.
Clearly, those who think like this
don't think of us as the same:
being born, drinking, eating, living,
loving and dying.
They think that the people
in the countries they want to seize
and control
are in the way,
obstacles,
hindrances.
So what kind of person
thinks like this?
Who are you?
I know you're human
but what kind of human are you?
Michael Rosen
