The Blame Game The forthcoming US presidential elections may be an ugly, dirty battle.

Indeed, it seems that President Obama as incumbent, will not have another choice rather than to face Gov. Romney. Nevertheless, both candidates and both Parties are rec urring to the most common tactic: The Blame Game. Democrats said Romney is only out to help the wealthy, and Republicans say Obama is spending money that we don't have, and in the middle are the 1% and the 99%. But, is really the 1% guilty of the Great Recession and has to be blamed? or pe rhaps is the 99% who doesn't get it and doesn't want to see that the current soc ial practices don't match with the new reality in a Globalized Economy? I'm going to start saying that my rich friends are excellent people. They work h ard, give openhandedly to charity and invest their money in the ideas of entrepr eneurs. They are in the 1% and their effort creates jobs and encourage innovatio n. From my point of view, it make sense if I say that they are not to blame for the problems that most Americans are facing since 2008. In another hand, my friends who are less than financially secure are also excell ent people. They work tough to provide for their families and make a better life for their children. However, they are in the 99% and their effort forms the bac kbone of America. From my point of view, it make sense if I say that they are no t to blame for the problems that most Americans face since 2008 either. And yet here all of us we stand, a nation at the brink. a scary moment for new a nd old generations. Each accusing the other for the ills that befall us. Still, many of us keep asking ourselves how did we get here? Could one group be right a nd the other is simply evil? If so, then which group? For I know many in both ci rcles and I see malice in none. Perhaps I am blind and deaf. Or perhaps we have become so disconnected from one another that the absence of malice in our hearts is surpassed by the absence of empathy. Most of us believe that people can be categorized as good or evil but the truth is we are an amalgam of both. Our founding fathers created a land of freedom whi le they owned slaves. Our enemies plot our downfall while they care for their mo thers and children. There is neither absolute good nor absolute evil. We are bot h and neither. And while it may be difficult to admit it to ourselves, who we ar e and what we do are largely a matter of circumstance. As the right and left have pulled us apart, Tea Party vs. Occupy Wall Street, we 've been conditioned to view the other side as less. It starts as less industrio us or less moral, but soon it becomes less worthy, less valuable and finally les s human. When this happens it becomes far too easy to subjugate each other as a matter of right. Like the pigs in animal farm we become indistinguishable from the opp ressors that we despise. I'm not like Pollyanna Whittier, a young orphan who goes to live in Beldingsvill e, Vermont, with her wealthy but stern Aunt Polly. Or like Bernie Madoff who adm itted operator of a Ponzi scheme that is considered to be the largest financial fraud in U.S. history. Nor like Nadya Suleman known as Octomom, who denied ever having used public assistance, nevertheless she confirmed in April 2012 on NBC's Today show that she was indeed on public assistance. It was clear that she took advantage of the system on both ends of the spectrum deserve no favor. However, it's time to end this ridiculous way of categorization that now strips us of our empathy. No more blaming the rich. No more blaming the poor. No more b laming anyone by any other label. For when all of these labels are washed away w e are just people. People who share dreams and values that are far more similar than we've been led to believe. It's time to look at the faces of those we've bl

amed for America's woes and see them for who they are: mothers, fathers, brother s, sisters and children. We are they and they are us. I fear we have already lost our empathy and if we d on't find a way, we may find ourselves a nation stripped of our humanity into ab surd intolerance. It's time for more coherent and fresh Nation, where everyone c an coexist with our own diversity. In the meantime, I'll do my part for America; to stop blaming others for my mistakes.