~ Martin Luther King Jr.
Sadly, I am often reminded that we live in a society where the pursuit of personal gain and pleasure regularly takes precedent above all else. A society where education and facts are often dismissed and even mocked, and those who express new ideas are ignored and frequently ridiculed.
In general terms, we are a society where largely meaningless gestures are offered to convince us that we are ‘good’ and ‘decent’ and ‘kind’ people. A society where convenience outweighs ethics, where the mighty dollar sign has prevailed over common sense - and even over humanity itself.
Most people don’t know that they aren’t always behaving as very ‘good’ people, as they are intentionally misled and they do not invest any effort to think or know any differently. In fact, people overwhelmingly seem to *like* being misled/lied to so their *perceived* life conveniences can be maintained.
I take great interest in the life around me. I have desire to know as much about issues as I can. I fail to understand being any other way. I can understand how we could disagree on many political views, I could see how we could disagree about what clothes we like, or what colors are our favorite - but seriously - not helping others when we have the ability to do so? Not alleviating suffering because we are so self-important that others simply do not matter? Seriously? Perpetuating the starvation and impoverishment of others? Draining and polluting our resources? Ignoring those who seek only a safe place to sleep, who beg you to help them protect their beloved family? Abusing animals and other humans? How could we POSSIBLY disagree on these things?
People go on with their meaningless traditions and thoughtless bullshit, day in and day out, generally believing all is well - changing their profile picture here and there, maybe sending a donation, or dump some water on their head…
I say again – SERIOUSLY? The aforementioned issues are NOT up for dispute. Not in my world they aren’t. Most people know the difference between right and wrong as well as I do.
As far as the refugees currently trying desperately to get to safety - I see these posts from people saying “There are kids starving in the United States, too, so we shouldn’t help any people until we can feed our own.”
LISTEN – we should be able to feed every man, woman, and child in the entire world for a lot less space and a lot less ecological destruction, but it is OUR CHOICE to not do so. It is OUR CHOICE to be ignorant. It is OUR CHOICE that there is so much violence. It is OUR CHOICE that we cannot address and resolve such simple and utterly scientific ideas such as skin pigments and imaginary lines. Everything that *is*, we have chosen or allowed. Furthermore, it is all a bullshit smoke screen to keep the majority of people contributing to the very *machine* they proclaim to dislike; to keep them singing a self-soothing lullaby while they willingly participate in some of the worst atrocities ever seen inflicted on any scale, to both humans, animals, and our entire ecology.
Explaining the complex issues that make every sentence I just said 100% true would take many pages, and the only people who would probably read it are people who already know (but the facts are widely available if anyone wants to check them). Many other potential readers are likely gone by now, back to watching the Kardashians or killing animals or burning the rainforest down or shitting in my water supply or some similar horror.
Fear plays to everything I am against. Lack of action exemplifies everything I never want to be. The shunning of education and knowledge is detestable, and the dismissal – of any suffering being – that we have the ability to help is ethically wrong and is the total opposite of my life values – and I am so very thankful for that. I find it appalling that many people (not all people, of course) generally do not express too much concern for the poor until they can prop them up for whatever discriminatory and frightened view they want to adopt that befits their often prejudicial and oppressive opinion.
Though I well recognize my limitations, and I live an extremely good life, in some senses I am also sad that we have not done better, that people who are otherwise intelligent have accepted thoughtless, skewed bias and propaganda on so many issues, and behave as violent self-serving barbarians almost every day. We could have done better, and we still can…but we have to want it, not this superficial words-not-actions, I-am-afraid-of-you, who-needs-education-when-I-have-a-bullshit-opinion, and its-okay-to-hurt-others-as-long-as-I-have-mine place I seem to reside.
I think the human race has tremendous potential to live symbiotically with both each other and Earth, but the pursuit of profit and the lack of taking personal responsibility has done its best to thus far ensure - and continue to ensure - that we will fail at *everything* – at maintaining our world, our physical evolution/health, our empathy, our environment…and at our very humanity.
Stop the fear. Stop this madness. Wake the fuck up! Seek education. Being ‘good’ actually requires a small amount of effort to determine whose side you are actually on, as society today is most often on the side of the oppressor, or are blind supporters of absolute horrific violence and destruction.
I am embarrassed by our entire species. I am sorry to all past, present, and future earthlings that we will harm with our egotistical violence, our ongoing failure to understand what discrimination actually is, our utter disregard and disrespect of facts, and our blind quest for personal convenience, money, and power...I am sorry that we have failed so badly at empathy, kindness, and compassion for others, and I am sorry that most of them will not understand their unfathomably narrow field of vision unless it is them screaming desperately for someone to help them.
