I kind of lost all faith in humanity yesterday. I've spent all day attempting to get it back. I came to the realization that it is close to impossible to get any number of people to give a shit about anyone other than themselves.
Heres a decent example:
The horrific amount of violence and tragedy that occurs daily in Africa that no one cares about because there isn't oil/money/profit margin in it and the idea that 'lets just let them kill themselves off' because no one gives a shit about impoverished black people in the middle of no where (or at least very very far from the comfort of their own homes).
People can change the channel to American Idol and American's next Top Model. Our media saturated culture is both a negative and positive element in this day and age. On the downside, we can choose to not pay attention to the problems of the world. The media itself also has this choice. Where do priorities lie? Personal priorities may reside in making enough income to feed ones 'family, buying ones' family a new SUV or flat screen television, or paying off ones' family's mortgage. Media priorities could lie in avoidance of discomfort for their audience. It seems that our country's media, and government for that matter, is far more concerned with BASEBALL having it's day of reckoning in CONGRESS. I found the following in the Washington Post's online archive:
"During the course of an all-day, nationally televised hearing, the House Government Reform Committee fulfilled its goal of examining baseball's oft-criticized drug-testing program and its impact on steroid use among teenagers."
By Dave Sheinin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 18, 2005; Page A01
ITS BASEBALL! Come on!
Come one come all to bare witness to the glory of our justice system turning their focus to BASEBALL! Nothing better to do? Trying to deflect the focus from other worldly events to the crisis of athletes weeping on the stand? Shouldn't the murder of hundreds of thousands of people take precedence over the news? Brutal acts of raid and rape? No? Not interested?
For those of you who don't know what's going on across the oceans, it's more than likely not your fault. No one is presenting it to you, so I'll do my civil duty as a citizen of the world and bestow some long overdue schooling, enjoy:
The War in Darfur is a military conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan. Unlike the Second Sudanese Civil War, the current lines of conflict are seen to be ethnic and tribal, rather than religious. One side of the armed conflict is composed mainly of the Sudanese military and the Janjawid, a militia group recruited mostly from the Arab Baggara tribes of the northern Rizeigat, camel-herding nomads. The other side comprises a variety of rebel groups, notably the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement, recruited primarily from the land-tilling non-Arab Fur, Zaghawa, and Massaleit ethnic groups. The Sudanese government, while publicly denying that it supports the Janjaweed, has provided money and assistance to the militia and has participated in joint attacks targeting the tribes from which the rebels draw support. The conflict began in February of 2003.
The combination of decades of drought, desertification, and overpopulation are among the causes of the Darfur conflict, because the Baggara nomads searching for water have to take their livestock further south, to land mainly occupied by non-Arab farming communities.
There are many casualty estimates, most concurring on a range within the hundreds of thousands. The United Nations (UN) estimates that the conflict has left as many as 200,000 dead from violence and disease. Most non-governmental organizations use 200,000 to more than 400,000; the latter is a figure from the Coalition for International Justice that has since been cited by the UN. Sudan's government claims that over 9,000 people have been killed, although this figure is seen as a gross underestimate. As many as 2.5 million are thought to have been displaced as of October 2006.
The Sudanese government has suppressed information by jailing and killing witnesses since 2004 and tampered with evidence such as mass graves to eliminate their forensic values. In addition, by obstructing and arresting journalists, the Sudanese government has been able to obscure much of what has gone on. The United States government has described it as genocide, although the UN has declined to do so. In March 2007 the UN mission accused Sudan's government of orchestrating and taking part in "gross violations" in Darfur and called for urgent international action to protect civilians there.
After fighting worsened in July and August, on August 31, 2006, the United Nations Security Council approved Resolution 1706 which called for a new 17,300-troop UN peacekeeping force to supplant or supplement a poorly funded, ill-equipped 7,000-troop African Union Mission in Sudan peacekeeping force. Sudan strongly objected to the resolution and said that it would see the UN forces in the region as foreign invaders. The next day, the Sudanese military launched a major offensive in the region.
[This article is taken from Wikipedia. While it is not always a reliable source for accurate information, I have checked the stats with other sites and it is very consistent.]
Here's the point. People don't care. Its much easier to not give a shit about other's. It takes effort to care about issues. I don't see it as that much of an effort. I find it mind numbingly frustrating that people don't take that small step towards even inquiring beyond their own walls.
I think I came face to face with every negative thing about the world all at once. Here's a good one: The fact that humans can never be of one race because their governments are all too petty and self involved to see anything beyond themselves. I found myself questioning whether I went into the right field at all. Should I have been a lawyer, a doctor, an international aid representative? Can I make a difference at all? Is every action I take a futile effort? I can't allow myself to believe that and still be able to pry myself out of bed in the morning. Life would become far to difficult. So I go on, everyday, attempting to make a difference in the slightest of ways. I talk to people. I tell them things, much as I have told you when I have today. I hope you talk about it to others. I hope you dig deeper. I hope.
