L-O-V-E / H-A-T-E : There's a lot of that going around. But I have found a resolve!

The man is actor Robert Mitchum in the 1955 thriller, The Night of the Hunter. Mitchum plays a religious fanatic and serial killer who intends to charm an unsuspecting widow and steal $10,000 hidden by her executed husband. On his right hand he has tattooed his fingers with L-O-V-E, On the left hand, H-A-T-E and that sets the stage for this chilling adaption of a true story.

In 1992 The Night of the Hunter was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.  In 2008. An influential film magazine called it the second best film of all time. First best: Citizen Kane, of course.

But today, L-O-V-E / H-A-T-E is the diametric opposite that seems to prevail most dominantly. The Declaration of Independence (It's a short read) says all men are created equal and a lot more. It seems to wrap around many of the key issues we face as a country and our 'inalienable rights' that the Constitution of the United States of America further defines.

L-O-V-E / H-A-T-E  extremes:

• Are all men created equal or are they not?
• Do black lives matter or do they not?
• Do law enforcement officers sometimes over-react in a biased way or is enforcing to death mostly ok?
• Are demonstrations of anger a human right or are they too dramatically out of control and should be suppressed to acceptance?
• Is it all for one and one for all or I'm doing ok thank you?
• Is it a right to have access to health care or only if you can afford it?
• Is is acceptable some have to live in poverty or I've earned mine and so should everyone else?
• Are there equal opportunities for all or why should there be?

Other key issues that are in conflict include homelessness, education, no limit gun rights (should blacks own AR-15s as is their right?... should anyone own AR-15s as is their right?), and, as said in many ads, more, much more. 

Maybe if L-O-V-E / H-A-T-E had a third possibility, there could be more empathy to other differences. 

Aha! I think I have it! What if the third possibility was U-N-D-E-R-S-T-A-N-D-E-R-S-T-A-N-D-I-N-G? If only we had 14 knuckles to tattoo. Oh, wait a minute. We do! 

Akshat Saxena in India has polydactylism--having multiple digits. As CBS reported in 2011, Saxena not only has 10 toes on each foot, he has 7 fingers on each hand! Perfect for U-N-D-E-R-S-T-A-N-D-I-N-G-! See?

Problem solved!