Are you a Republican or a Democrat? A Libertarian or an Independent? Are you an African-American or an Asian-American? Or perhaps to be more specific, are you Ethiopian or Japanese? Are you for the left wing or the right wing? Are you Conservative, Modera te, Liberal, or Extremist? Hurry up and answer the questions, because everyone needs to know! This is America.

These labels on top are just a few examples (and near harmless ones, depending on the way their used) in a way in which we as Americans have geared ourselves to think. For example: if you're a Republican, then you probably support Newt and Rush and can't wait to expunge the welfare system; if you're a Democrat, then you probably support anything the Republicans don't support including President Clinton and his wife; and if your an Independent, then you're just uncommitted and undedicated and you'll never get to vote in the primary. These are just a few of the stereotypical connotations that most people associate these terms with. The point being that they're mostly untrue, and the media, unfortunately, has always had a large part in this game (although po litics, in most cases, is not a good example of this).

The word L.A.B.E.L. is an abbreviation for Love Affected By Effective Limitations. Simply, it means that love, the most powerful force in the world, unfortunately, can be affected by limitations, such as derogatory statements, belittling comments, sexual harassment, etc. However, it should be noted here that this affected love works both ways. First, a label, such as a cultural slur ("racial slur" for all you race-minded people) can be effective against the person at whom the ignorant comment is thrown. B ut it's important to understand that the slur will only work when the person allows it to. This is not to say that it wouldn't bother you, because in most cases it does - you're human; the comment probably will strike a nerve. But what makes you the bette r person, or should I say, more human, is that you're strong enough to know that the person who said such a thing is only a mere child and that you're more mature than that: you walk away.

Secondly, and perhaps most unrealized, is that these hateful and ignorant labels that people use against one another is hurting the person using him more than the person he is using it against. In a very general example we take two people, one who has jus t made a sexually harassing remark to a co-worker. Now, the person at whom the comment was directed will certainly be upset for good reason, and in most cases the comment will upset that person's spouse, work performance, self-esteem, family circle, and g eneral outlook upon society (just to give you an idea of how far a demeaning statement can be carried). But what's more important is that the person who made the comment is obviously a very underdeveloped human. This person either didn't learn and/or was n't taught an important lesson in his life, respect being one of them. Whether you'd like to admit it or not, both people here are victims.

My point, however, is that the more dangerous victim (the one who carelessly insults and degrades others) is the one who loses out on true friendships, meaningful relationships, and all feelings related to a greater experience.

The greater experience being of one filled with love, compassion, trust and never-ending growth. That is to say, a progression to becoming a more understanding person which will serve to benefit your children (assuming you have them) and then improving yo urself in return. What I'm trying to get at here is that the more people carelessly use hurtful labels to either categorize others in groups or themselves doesn't make life easier for us to delineate who's who, but rather, only serves to divide and render useless.

By saying "to divide and render useless" I refer to examples that people use such as "It's the immigrants fault that I've lost my job," or "It's those damn homosexuals who bring down the morality in this country," or even "If those women on welfare would just go out and get a job, America would be fiscally better off!" The question that always arises in my mind is, what the hell are you talking about?! First of all, those "welfare women" that everyone loves to use as an example of what not to do in our so ciety should be commended for being the ones who choose to stay and raise their children instead of running away (I'm referring to deadbeat dads). Secondly, if homosexuals are responsible for the moral decline in American society today, where were they i n Oklahoma City last April or the abortion clinics in Boston a couple of years ago. Finally, if you need to refer to other human beings as immigrants, then perhaps the problem is that you're not seeing the beauty in what other cultures have to offer to Am erica, and more importantly, to you.

Wake up. Let's start learning to treat each other with a little more respect; let's try to get beyond the label system that has only done more harm than good for our country and perhaps we will all begin to appreciate each other for what we all possess: l ove. Don't misunderstand me now, because I'm not talking about living in Smurfville, I'm talking about one day at a time, one person at a time; we can all make a difference - together.

Daniel W.Martin is a creative writing sophomore and his column appears every other Tuesday.