Since waking up this morning at 9:00 a.m., I have done maybe five things. I ate breakfast. I watched an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. I refreshed my Twitter feeds. I read a book. And I read about five or seven news articles. And I am already flabbergasted at the insanity with which I have been presented (blancmanges from space look tame compared to this).
From what I can tell, the world is in a state of chaos. But anyone could have told you that. Greek protests, Mongolian nomads' herds devestated from freezing temperatures, the possibility of a war between North and South Korea, the Gulf oil spill…there are so many other things I could name. What about the gay couple in Malawi sentenced to 14 years in prison simply for being who they are? For being two consenting adults in a romantic relationship, they are now convicted criminals. What about the redshirt conflict in Thailand? I ask you, how have we come to this?
This past spring semester I took a course about genocide. It was some of the hardest material I've ever had to learn. We studied Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Armenia, and Russia, among many others, and I promise you that what I learned there I will never forget. There were times that I felt that if I started crying, I would never stop. It was raw, unrestrained, and hit me harder than ever I've been hit before. The knowledge I gained in that class keeps echoing in my mind, saying WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?, and WHY CAN'T WE STOP IT?, but I fear it'll never stop unless we do something.
I don't understand how it is that I, a college student who's not even twenty years old, would be more willing to step up and do what I have to do to make things right again than would most of the people in power in my nation. YES, I am calling all of you out. Democrats, Republicans, I DON'T CARE. You have screwed up. You have fucked over everyone with your petty, partisan squabbles, and I call utter bullshit on everything you have done in the past I don't even care to count how many years. You say we are the greatest nation on earth? Bullshit. You say that we have the best of everything? Bullshit. You say that we are a Christian nation and that your Christian God blesses this country? Bullshit. You say that it's the other person's fault? BULLSHIT. It is YOUR fault, it is THEIR fault, and unless you can put aside your stupid issues and, I don't know, work together, you are going to make us into another Roman Empire (as though we aren't there already), and we are going to fall. Painfully.
I had once thought about going into politics. For maybe a split second, I thought about it. But then I realized that no matter what my intentions going in were, I would end up just like you, ALL of you, and I don't want to be like that. Show me an honest politician and I'll start believing that world peace isn't just a faerie tale my mind has cooked up to try to help me cope with the overwhelming despair the world has thrown on me and so many others. Yes, maybe I'm not the best one to complain, but considering that, I still have a right to complain. I vote, I try my best to pay attention to what's going on in the world, and you know what? I care. Which is more than I can say for a great many of the people in politics, not only in my country, but probably across the world.
I DARE you to do better. I dare you. I dare you to stop acting like children on the playground, fighting over who gets to play in the sandbox and who can't get on your part of the jungle gym. I dare you to band together and fight ignorance. I dare you to work together regardless of your personal beliefs, to better this nation for everyone, not just you and your friends. I dare you to forget your agendas, your capitalist greed, your fear of diversity, and try to understand those who are different from you, to make a system that can help all people. I dare you to stop trying to push what you think onto other people. I dare you to stop fighting with one another, and instead forge bonds of camraderie and solidarity. I dare you to work with the rest of the world, instead of trying to boss it around. I dare you to try.
Maybe this will never be heard. Maybe my voice will go on echoing into nothingness. But it doesn't matter. My voice, and millions of other voices, is out there now. Can't you listen? Can't you even try? If you make even one genuine attempt at trying to make this world a better place for someone else, then it is enough. If everyone can try to do that, it may be enough. But if no one listens, if no one pays any attention to those they see as "beneath them," then the world will never change. And I weep at the mere thought of what that could possibly mean for my children, and all of their children of countless future generations.
For your consideration:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8686275.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/10130240.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8693681.stm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37244411/ns/world_news-asiapacific//
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37251905/ns/world_news-europe/?ocid=twitter
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/science/earth/20noaa.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
And is it just me, or is there something very wrong about this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/science/earth/20alaska.html?ref=earth
