“THE PLUTO THEORY OF LIFE”

I was recently watching old speeches of the political nature on YouTube and I was inspired by the particular way the speaker kept referring to humanity as if it was his lifelong pursuit and passion to do everything within his power to make life a better place for the less fortunate. It seems remarkable to me that an individual who has achieved the level of success he has would continue to work diligently to make the world a better place, especially when there are others who will never aspire to walk in his footsteps and yet rest on their laurels. I am referencing the speeches of former President Bill Clinton.

I will not even try to debate the politics of William Jefferson Clinton as there are plenty of historians and political pundits on both sides who will do a much better job than I ever could. I just happen to love listening to speeches and most people consider former President Clinton to be one of the most brilliant speakers to ever hold office. However, I am not here to argue for or against him and this is not a political forum for that purpose either. I am simply trying to draw upon that which inspired me to reflect on my own life and humanity, and develop what I like to call “The Pluto Theory” of life.

I imagine that some of you are wondering about “The Pluto Theory” of life and how I came up with that title. As I was listening to many of these speeches, I thought back to how, just a few years ago, scientist relegated Pluto to dwarf planet status. It was during this time of reflection that I also thought back to my childhood and how, many times, my friends and I would ostracize those who did not seem to fit the same mold as us. It isn’t that we were mean or rude so much as it was we just didn’t want them to run in the same circles as we did. They were different and different just doesn’t work so well when you are young. To make a comparison, I guess they were our “Pluto’s” in a sense.

Pluto as most of you and I know to exist, was located by Clyde Tombaugh in Feb of 1930 and it was named by Venetia Burney in March of 1930. Miss Burney was an 11th grade student at the time and her submission of Pluto was chosen unanimously from among the three choices. I, along with many of you reading this, spent all of our formative years learning the planets within the solar system. Pluto was the “pizza” pies we were served on a daily basis as we memorized the planets and their alignment within the universe. There are many things in life that are up for debate and I am well aware of the vastness of our universe and the ever growing knowledge that is coming forth from such a great expanse, but for the life of me, I cannot fathom a pseudo-intellectual mindset that would change history in the name of academia. If we are going to debate issues such as this, my foremost argument would always be on the side of historical precedence. The dedication and work that went into discovering and naming Pluto by these individuals along with all of the support from the International community are reasons enough to keep Pluto as a major planet. These factors alone would force me to argue for allowing Pluto to maintain its status as a planet alongside the others. I digress though… Whenever we as a society allow what we perceive to be insufficient outweigh that which makes others truly significant, we set not only ourselves up for a diminished capacity to achieve greatness but all of humanity as well. We cannot displace our own misperceptions on those around us thereby creating a sense of inferiority in them, and ever expect them or hope to expect them to live up to ours or their expectations. The systematic collaboration of one group to set a standard of qualities on others in an effort to achieve superiority and relegate the intended to, “The Pluto Theory of Life” will always undermine humanity. The unintended consequences will outweigh the intended consequences and as a result society will be burdened by the one step forward, two steps back philosophy.

Looking at some of the ramifications of the social and economic disenfranchisement issues among teens, we find that the practice of ostracizing one another from groups has led to a higher rate of depression, suicides and homicides among teenagers. These unintended results have had very traumatic affects on families and communities throughout this nation as well as the nation as a whole. The idea that we can continue to allow the posterity of this country to propagate a level of insecurity among their peers simply on the basis of looks, economical status, ethnicity and more recently gender identity/sexual orientation will only lead to more instances of violence and self-polarization among teens that will be carried over into adulthood. We did not foster, “The Pluto Theory of Life”, but we must find a way to stop perpetuating it so that future generations will find a smoother road to travel and they can mature into adulthood with a genuine sense of acceptance for that which makes each other unique, and dynamic.

There are three things we must do to help stop the “Pluto Theory of Life” from spreading. 1) We must not allow ourselves or our children to create any semblance of a set of guidelines that would relegate others to feel inferior. 2) We cannot allow ourselves or our children to make others feel ostracized by our or their actions or inactions thereby giving them the perception that we are better or more fortunate than they are or appear to be. 3) We must not allow those around us and our children to develop a “Pluto Theory of Life” based on their own misperceptions of how they see themselves or how they feel others see them. Human nature dictates that people will always gravitate towards others with whom they share a common goal or with those with whom they fell most comfortable. Sports, music, economic status, and religious beliefs are only a few of the factors in life that create the gravitational pull within people. In the scheme of things though, when all is said and done, it should always be humanity that has the greatest pull. Humanity is equivalent to the gravitational pull of a ball towards the Earth’s surface. It keeps us grounded with one another. Humanity repels “The Pluto Theory of Life” into a dark and vast cosmos from which gravity and time and space cannot overcome. Let humanity and not human nature be the star that guides you through the galaxy of life!! Lonnie D. Ellis