Incoherent Ramblings of a Befuddled Sort
I spent the evening out with my mother watching Blood Diamond. I then proceeded to come home and spend the next two hours reading about Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast and Darfur.
Not only am I confused, I am completely angry that no one around me wants to listen. I live in a very privileged world, where I have food, shelter, freedom (mostly) and have not been denied many things that I needed/wanted. I know this. I have been dealing with it for quite a while.
But my big question of the night is: How can I make people care?
And I guess my larger concern is: Why do people not care already?
Nearly 450, 000 are dead in Darfur. Millions are displaced and being chased by killing squads armed and funded by the Sudanese government. The United Nations still has not declared this genocide, and fears the term ethnic cleansing.
This is just one example of one of the many conflicts that exists in the world. How does something like that get buried in the news coverage of Britney and K. Fed's divorce or the weather in Montana? Why is the whole planet not in a state of uproar?
I sit in my huge bedroom, with all the modern amenities, and fret about things like this. But what good am I doing? I still go to an expensive liberal arts college. I still got the Ipod for Christmas. I still drive my semi-new car around town filling the air with fossil fuels in order to buy my $3.00 cup of coffee (which probably is not fair trade.) I can not seem to find the money to send over there, yet my parents buy me a ticket to go to Northern Ireland for the semester.
What is even more frustrating is that my even being aware of these things puts me one step ahead of a lot of people in this nation. Many people around here are so consumed with their daily lives they do not have the time, money or energy to worry about these things. Without sustainable jobs with good benefits, higher minimum wages, effective educational systems, lower unemployment rates and protective unions, who can really blame them? Why does it matter when they can barely juggle their own lives?
There are so many problems both in this nation and in the world. I feel naiive, ignorant, lost and helpless. All I want to do with my life is make the world a better place, and I believe it is possible.
However, I think apathy could very easily be humanity's downfall.
Not only am I confused, I am completely angry that no one around me wants to listen. I live in a very privileged world, where I have food, shelter, freedom (mostly) and have not been denied many things that I needed/wanted. I know this. I have been dealing with it for quite a while.
But my big question of the night is: How can I make people care?
And I guess my larger concern is: Why do people not care already?
Nearly 450, 000 are dead in Darfur. Millions are displaced and being chased by killing squads armed and funded by the Sudanese government. The United Nations still has not declared this genocide, and fears the term ethnic cleansing.
This is just one example of one of the many conflicts that exists in the world. How does something like that get buried in the news coverage of Britney and K. Fed's divorce or the weather in Montana? Why is the whole planet not in a state of uproar?
I sit in my huge bedroom, with all the modern amenities, and fret about things like this. But what good am I doing? I still go to an expensive liberal arts college. I still got the Ipod for Christmas. I still drive my semi-new car around town filling the air with fossil fuels in order to buy my $3.00 cup of coffee (which probably is not fair trade.) I can not seem to find the money to send over there, yet my parents buy me a ticket to go to Northern Ireland for the semester.
What is even more frustrating is that my even being aware of these things puts me one step ahead of a lot of people in this nation. Many people around here are so consumed with their daily lives they do not have the time, money or energy to worry about these things. Without sustainable jobs with good benefits, higher minimum wages, effective educational systems, lower unemployment rates and protective unions, who can really blame them? Why does it matter when they can barely juggle their own lives?
There are so many problems both in this nation and in the world. I feel naiive, ignorant, lost and helpless. All I want to do with my life is make the world a better place, and I believe it is possible.
However, I think apathy could very easily be humanity's downfall.