The suffering, a world away

[pegkerr]

I don't know anyone personally in Darfur, Iraq, Myanmar or China.

I don't know anyone personally (to my knowledge) affected by the tornadoes that have ripped up several communities here in the states.

Here on LiveJournal, we natter on (and on! and on!) about our various concerns, but to me today, hearing the news of war, cyclones, earthquakes and tornadoes, they seem just so trivial and petty.

I just want to light a candle today for those who have lost their entire world, who are struggling for survival.

Comments

[kayselkiemoon.livejournal.com]

*nods* it is so easy to get locked into our own daily troubles, and become removed from the suffering of others; lose the sense of immediacy, of connection that flows through us all. like a heartbeat. that's one reason I enjoy the breathing exercises in yoga - I find a way to step back and reconnect. I am glad you posted this. *raises a candle*

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

Do you think there's anyone on your f-list who wouldn't give up their posting for the day--heck, give it up forever--if it would help? Petty and trivial our concerns may be, but the only life we can live is the one we have. None of us can make any difference to those people by stopping our posting here, by stopping any of our daily activities (other than to take time to make a donation).

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I thought about that, actually, and for that reason didn't make the post when it first occurred to me to do so, after the news of the cyclone in Myanmar. Honestly, I hesitated to make the post at all.

On the other hand, the scale of the suffering is so extreme, that it has been breaking into my own insularity. I simply wanted to acknowledge that.

Yes, it probably doesn't make a damn difference.

I don't care. There are a lot of things a person can do that "don't make a difference" but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be done.

It seems important to me, today, to do it anyway. I don't know why. But it does.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

I certainly didn't mean you shouldn't do it, and I think we all should stay reasonably aware of what's happening to other people in the world, both close and far away, known and unknown. But sometimes people seem to get paralyzed by contemplating all the awful things that happen to others, and in this global information age, we know so much about it. But the news media being what they are, what we know is mostly bad.

Do we stop to think about the tens of thousands of people who are happy today because they have a new baby? The ones who are happy because they are marrying the person of their choice? The ones who are graduating, getting new jobs, moving into new homes (no matter how humble or how grand), or maybe simply getting enough to eat for their families? No, because the news isn't full of their stories.

If every human's death diminishes me, every person's birth enriches me. If I am going to mourn for the thousands suffering, then I should rejoice for the millions, billions, who will have something good happen to them today.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

That is a perfectly valid point, too. Thanks.

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

Yep. I deeply appreciate the international conferences I go to because I now "know" people from all over the world, but except for a couple of people in China, none of these affected areas are places where I've met people.

I think of them, hold them in my heart, and send money. Those are the things I know how to do.

[roadnotes.livejournal.com]

"I think of them, hold them in my heart, and send money. Those are the things I know how to do."

Yes. And now that I have a little more money, it's going out into the world.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

Amen. While the whole Open Boob kerfuffle was going on here, Tibetan monks were facing Chinese police. Perspective, anyone?

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

I *do* know someone in Chengdu, with her husband and kids. (Intel has a plant there, so there are a bunch of Americans working there.) She posted a short incoherent message yesterday to the mailing list of the knitting group where I met her, so I know she and hers are alive (and have some access to the outside world) but I'm thinking of her a lot today.

And of what it would be like if we had that storm or that earthquake here in Taiwan, not so far in the grand scheme of things from Burma or SW China. Just as you're not so far from the areas with tornadoes.

[katakanadian.livejournal.com]

Not knowing someone personally need not equal not caring.

Blogging wouldn't have completely prevented Darfur, Iraq, Myanmar or China but it can be part of the solution or at least mitigate the severity of the disaster. The human rights abuses around the world happen because too many people are silent. Earthquakes aren't predictable or preventable but maybe one more person donated to aid relief or someone else made lifesaving emergency preparations because you posted.

Much of the footdragging by people who refuse to reduce their carbon emissions happens because they are too caught up in their own world. People insist on driving their kids to school because they are afraid of stranger abductions and yet their child is about 1000x more likely to be killed in a car accident than to be abducted. That irrational fear is contributing to the present and future misery and death of millions of other children.

No, maybe we shouldn't say anything. Maybe it will all go away if we don't acknowledge it. We are all so busy worrying about how we will pay the fuel bill that we can't make the effort to reduce our consumption (and future fuel bills).


When a tree falls in the forest, it does make a sound.