// - Heterodox
// - Heterodox
Are there times in your life when you feel like your opinions are in a car chase on the wrong side of the road? If you've never felt like that, chances are pretty good that you don't think for yourself enough. Do you really think the majority is right? Does the suggestion that democracy is a lousy and flawed political system just like all the rest offend you?
Today is as good a day as any to re-think your whole life.
This week, when the only two countries of North America with decent economies celebrated the virtues of their homes and complained about political moves so irrelevant that they will be forgotten almost instantly and wars they cannot claim to remotely understand whether they support or disagree with them, perhaps we should reconsider the origins of democracy.
Democracy began in a part of the world that was like most other parts of the world then and now. Women's value was as productive property and servants at best, and slave-keeping was and is commonplace for the privileged. Today, in countries without this coveted democracy, these scenarios still flourish - but was it really democracy that changed them?
No. It was war. Revolution. Unity is not the child of democracy, but of desperation.
In the beginning of modern politics, there was democracy. Those who were lucky enough to be citizens of a small, male, ethnically "pure" elite, were allowed the right to dictate some political decisions - ruling over their state like they ruled over their women and slaves. American and Canadian democracies were founded a few generations ago on the blood of those who were already living here, and the blood of slaves and human beings with no value attached to their lives. Such a promising beginning, for not all promises are light or pleasant.
It is a sad fact that most people confronted with the horrors of the holocaust or school shootings or terrorism think that such behavior is rare, or requires mental illness. It is surprising, shocking to them that human beings could be so uncivilized. Yet the chances are that at least one house on their street is directly affected by the abuse and rape of women and children, probably even the house right next door - and violence entertains them anyway. They enjoy it. They pay to have their fear aroused, and world superpowers fight a war on terror simultaneously. It's easy to just turn their backs if it all gets too close to home.
Did you know that the few billion dollars it could take to end world hunger is less than the amount of money spent on pet food in North America and Europe? Can you imagine the impact of the collapse of the billion dollar tobacco industry if Canadians and Americans withdrew their money from products that are slowly killing them and put it towards ending slavery - mostly child slavery - world wide?
Don't try to tell me that normal people aren't capable of murder. Just because you couldn't look in someone's eyes and take their life away doesn't mean anything. If you have a way to read this message on a computer, or in print, your lifestyle is a guaranteed causal factor of the global catastrophe - abuse, famine, paltry diseases and loss. And yet, don't tell me you're really planning to change your world for theirs, because only a massive upheaval of the rich, even the rich who don't see themselves that way, will change the world enough to make a real dent in the horrifying statistics. The fact is, from a global perspective, you don't matter either.
Sure, you can pay for one child's education or click a button for a few cups of staple food to be paid for by a company. You could even be truly generous with your money, and make life easier for a few people. You could go to great personal lengths. Don't think because of that generosity that you really matter to the world any more than the woman or girl somewhere in this world who is being raped as you read this sentence. And don't think that because you in and of yourself are worthless to the world that you have no responsibility.
And so, we could just stand here, like the proud Pharisee in the Bible story and say it. "I thank you that I am not like those other people. The ones born in a less privileged place, those who the world forgot, those who are actively forgotten."
The truth is, there's one thing that we here in these two democratic countries can agree upon. The majority doesn't actually make the decisions. In fact, the majority of the world doesn't even matter. Do they matter to you?
Because if the majority ruled, they would be hungry and seeking food for themselves and their home nations because they had no basic nourishment. They would be thirsty and seeking out water for their families because they live in a desert where the wells are dry or the rivers contain only sludge. They would be crying out for justice and heath care for every age and gender. They would be asking for just enough love and altruism in the lives of the elite minority to keep them alive and healthy and whole.
So now that we've celebrated our freedom, what are you going to do about theirs?
//
(1) - [The Beginning] ( 2) - [The Dream] ( 3) - [Non-Existence]
Moved to Action? Here's just a few places to start.
Sex Trafficking | Labor Trafficking | Slavery | Hunger | Thirst and Sanitation | Violence Against Women
Are there times in your life when you feel like your opinions are in a car chase on the wrong side of the road? If you've never felt like that, chances are pretty good that you don't think for yourself enough. Do you really think the majority is right? Does the suggestion that democracy is a lousy and flawed political system just like all the rest offend you?
Today is as good a day as any to re-think your whole life.
This week, when the only two countries of North America with decent economies celebrated the virtues of their homes and complained about political moves so irrelevant that they will be forgotten almost instantly and wars they cannot claim to remotely understand whether they support or disagree with them, perhaps we should reconsider the origins of democracy.
Democracy began in a part of the world that was like most other parts of the world then and now. Women's value was as productive property and servants at best, and slave-keeping was and is commonplace for the privileged. Today, in countries without this coveted democracy, these scenarios still flourish - but was it really democracy that changed them?
No. It was war. Revolution. Unity is not the child of democracy, but of desperation.
In the beginning of modern politics, there was democracy. Those who were lucky enough to be citizens of a small, male, ethnically "pure" elite, were allowed the right to dictate some political decisions - ruling over their state like they ruled over their women and slaves. American and Canadian democracies were founded a few generations ago on the blood of those who were already living here, and the blood of slaves and human beings with no value attached to their lives. Such a promising beginning, for not all promises are light or pleasant.
It is a sad fact that most people confronted with the horrors of the holocaust or school shootings or terrorism think that such behavior is rare, or requires mental illness. It is surprising, shocking to them that human beings could be so uncivilized. Yet the chances are that at least one house on their street is directly affected by the abuse and rape of women and children, probably even the house right next door - and violence entertains them anyway. They enjoy it. They pay to have their fear aroused, and world superpowers fight a war on terror simultaneously. It's easy to just turn their backs if it all gets too close to home.
Did you know that the few billion dollars it could take to end world hunger is less than the amount of money spent on pet food in North America and Europe? Can you imagine the impact of the collapse of the billion dollar tobacco industry if Canadians and Americans withdrew their money from products that are slowly killing them and put it towards ending slavery - mostly child slavery - world wide?
Don't try to tell me that normal people aren't capable of murder. Just because you couldn't look in someone's eyes and take their life away doesn't mean anything. If you have a way to read this message on a computer, or in print, your lifestyle is a guaranteed causal factor of the global catastrophe - abuse, famine, paltry diseases and loss. And yet, don't tell me you're really planning to change your world for theirs, because only a massive upheaval of the rich, even the rich who don't see themselves that way, will change the world enough to make a real dent in the horrifying statistics. The fact is, from a global perspective, you don't matter either.
Sure, you can pay for one child's education or click a button for a few cups of staple food to be paid for by a company. You could even be truly generous with your money, and make life easier for a few people. You could go to great personal lengths. Don't think because of that generosity that you really matter to the world any more than the woman or girl somewhere in this world who is being raped as you read this sentence. And don't think that because you in and of yourself are worthless to the world that you have no responsibility.
And so, we could just stand here, like the proud Pharisee in the Bible story and say it. "I thank you that I am not like those other people. The ones born in a less privileged place, those who the world forgot, those who are actively forgotten."
The truth is, there's one thing that we here in these two democratic countries can agree upon. The majority doesn't actually make the decisions. In fact, the majority of the world doesn't even matter. Do they matter to you?
Because if the majority ruled, they would be hungry and seeking food for themselves and their home nations because they had no basic nourishment. They would be thirsty and seeking out water for their families because they live in a desert where the wells are dry or the rivers contain only sludge. They would be crying out for justice and heath care for every age and gender. They would be asking for just enough love and altruism in the lives of the elite minority to keep them alive and healthy and whole.
So now that we've celebrated our freedom, what are you going to do about theirs?
//
(1) - [The Beginning] ( 2) - [The Dream] ( 3) - [Non-Existence]
Moved to Action? Here's just a few places to start.
Sex Trafficking | Labor Trafficking | Slavery | Hunger | Thirst and Sanitation | Violence Against Women