A Rant

People’s ignorance is disgusting.

The obvious disrespect for other cultures and religions when they claim to be open-minded, modern citizens of the same planet is shameful. I am ashamed.

How people can knowingly work for industries that serve to perpetuate the violence carried out on people every day, that acts also to continually destabilise communities to leave them dying slowly from hunger, thirst, preventable diseases, is beyond me. It’s not like they don’t have a choice. They’re usually the lucky few who do have a choice in this world.

We have so much in common at so many levels. From the one who is suffering to the one who is reaping all the benefits. I bet they have a hell of a lot in common in many ways. Unfortunately, just because people get on, or care about similar things, doesn’t do away with the truth that there still exist those who don’t see the bigger picture. They get some of the connections, but not all, not enough to change the way they think or act. Most of us are all decent. We want to look after the ones we care about, we all want to be happy, but the problem is how we go about doing it so that we’re all cared for and that we can all be happy.

Perhaps making things personal forces us to compromise, to take a step back and say, “OK. It doesn’t have to be this way. Have some of mine. We’ll share a little. I forgive you. Let’s agree to disagree and have a laugh about it. Let’s make sure people aren’t unnecessarily dying from malaria/unexploded cluster bombs/dirty water/depression/giving birth”.

Launching a cruise missile isn’t personal. The President tells the general, to tell his lieutenant, to tell someone else to press the button. Nobody kills anyone. People just die.

Perhaps that's a bit of an extreme example, but it's the little inconsequential, "it's not going to harm anyone now, is it?" actions, that add up and conspire to make life impossible. These problems are so removed from the personal lives from those who hold power that change just seems to slow.