As children people adapt to their environment and grow accustomed to the norms in which they are raised. They learn that which is right and wrong and how to differentiate between good and bad. All this they learn from the society in which they grow. As they grow older still they look to these basic principles to overcome issues of difficulty.
Richard Connell illustrates this in his story "The Most Dangerous Game". General Zaroff previously worked in the army and grew accustomed to seeing the fine line between life and death being crossed quite suddenly and frequently. For him this was norm. Every individual yearns to occupy a known surrounding. General Zaroff created his own. To him killing a human was just part of the game. And he was in it to win.
Everyone yearns to be in a recognizable and known habitat so that they may feel comfortable. For many of us "comfortable" is what we grew up in. This includes the way we dress, the food we eat and the people we surround ourselves with.
Everyday our lives create a mirror image of something we learned in the past, whether it be the way we tie our shoes or the way we hold our fork when eating. You live what you learn.
The people that fill our prisons to the people that walk our streets. They all act in a way that is norm to them. Each individual has their own definition of normal and that is based on what they are accustomed to.
Though people can change it is quite hard to erase a lifetime of habits and principles and replace them with new ideals. Before we change others why don't we change ourselves, why don't we convert to their norm instead of vis versa? Why don't we just accept individuality and uniqueness and see them for what they truly are. Why don't we educate our young on diversity instead of an assumed democracy? Because whenever a school door is opened a prison is being closed.
