Quotation

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. - St. Augustine

19 June 2015

Not about travelling. Frustration and train of thought.

I'm sick of it.  I'm sick and tired of hearing about people dying.  I'm sick of people who are supposed to be protectors fearing their wards.  I'm sick of individuals, who in the end, act for themselves, killing other individuals.  I'm tired of people taking verbal and physical attacks on other people, or even on groups, as personal.  I'm tired of people attacking individuals as a means to attack a group.

I'm tired of people being out for their own gain, no matter the expense.  I'm tired of thoughtless consumerism, and enabled greed.  I'm really tired of people being terrified of otherness, of anything that doesn't fit into their thought-models.  I'm tired of racism, tired of homophobia, transphobia.  I'm tired of double standards.  I'm tired of people caring about other people's labels, but not the people themselves.  I'm tired of people calling the police on their neighbors because their kids are walking down the street, or having a pool party.  I definitely don't want to hear about how people "can't even" or "have no words" and whatnot about coffee drinks and fashion etc, phrases which are bandied around so freely that it seems the users are discouragingly uneducated and can't come up with suitable expressions, and it makes those sentiments less meaningful when an event is actually that impactful.

I'm tired of people closing themselves off in carefully constructed worlds of internet fora and netflix.  I'm tired to death of people blaming him, her, them, anybody but themselves.  I'm tired of old, horrible, injustices being used as justification for modern crimes.  I'm tired of one-up-man-ship, and the need to win to beat somebody.  There isn't a group on the earth who didn't abuse their power when they had it, and precious few if any, that never drew the short stick.

Can we talk to our neighbors?  Can we walk around our world, and engage with our fellow inhabitants, and not just the ones who are the same?  (We might find that many more are the same than we think.)  Can we empathize with someone else's pain, someone else's history, someone else's joy?  Can we step up to the challenge that is a divided world, and take hands?  Can we see through our pain, through our hurt, and see that we aren't the only ones?

Who will be the bigger man?  Who will be brave in the face of adversity?  Who will put themself aside, for the greater good?

There are thousands of people who do just that.  There are wonderful people in every community.  There are wonderful kids and adults, there are wonderful police officers, there are mothers and fathers who teach their children to listen.  There are so many people who genuinely want to understand, to reach out, and to connect.  We can help them, and in doing so, help ourselves.

We all benefit from saving the world.  Why not work together on it?

Song list:
What a Wonderful World- Louis Armstrong
Stand by me - Ben King
Put a little love in your heart - Jackie DeShannon
You've got to be carefully taught - Rodgers and Hammerstein (South Pacific)
Lean on me - Bill Withers
One Love - Bob Marley
Where is the love - Black Eyed Peas
Let there be peace on earth - Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller
You'll never walk alone - Rodgers and Hammerstein (Carousel)
He's got the whole world in his hands- traditional
We shall overcome - ?

Tangents that I almost veered into, because there is always more to say and more ways to expand, and ALL PARTIES have room for improvement:
Responses to more specific incidents and topics
USA's leadership and hypocrisy
Rights to culture/cultural appropriation
The purpose and place of police
Domestic intercultural relations
Sexism/racism/bigotry (subset, double standards and assumptions)
Gun control
What can we do?