Xenolith

A xenolith is a rock fragment found within a larger rock which it picked up during it's formation. For example, it could be a piece of sandstone (sedimentary rock) found within a lava (igneous rock) which the lava picked up when it flowed down the volcano and then stayed there after the lava cooled. Simply put, it's something which doesn't belong.

During 2008 and 2009, South Africa had a resurgence of xenophobic violence. People were being attacked because they were from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi - not South Africans. The reasons given were that these immigrants were taking jobs and that they should go back to their own countries. They aren't welcome here. Some of the attacks resulted in deaths and many fled their homes fearing for their lives.

Surrogates is a 2009 film set in the future. Technology has allowed people to use very advanced robots as surrogates to do everything for them. These robots look exactly like normal people and so no-one ever leaves their house. The surrogates allow you to look any way you want to and to be any kind of person you want to be. What struck me about the film was the fact that because of this surrogacy, violent crimes had dropped to nil. Discrimination and intolerance was a thing of the past. Could this really happen? Would we stop hating each other if we didn't know what we looked like? If we were in a sense all the same?

Not belonging or being different has been enough reason for many people to hate others, without any further thought as to the individual's personality or basic humanity. According to National Geographic, the world population will reach 7 billion this year. Can we afford to carry on in this way? Our planet is being stretched to breaking point with regard to its natural resources. No Vulcans or supremely intelligent life is on it's way to help us or to show us a better way. We have to do it ourselves.

We all feel different. That's one of the reasons I think a lot people identify with Xavier and his X-Men - being hated because you're different. Why not embrace the differences? Hell, variety is definitely the spice of life :-).