side track

a deviation...

I saw the photo talked about here in this article:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/kos-crisis-the-story-behind-the-photograph-of-a-syrian-father-shared-by-thousands-online-10461933.html

on someone's facebook post...

I've been seeing a lot of Donald Trump, which I *really* don't understand, but whatever. I can skip right over that xenophobic racist misogynist without even a second thought. 

I've also been seeing a lot of anti-abortion commentary on my Newsfeed. Not sure why that's suddenly seeing such a big uptick, and that's a little harder for me to skip right over, but I do because I can accept that what I believe is not what everybody believes.

And? Lots of commentary about "illegals" and immigrants and "we should get rid of 'anchor baby' legislation,' which is even harder for me to skip over because people are people to me, no matter where they come from, and the idea that I should hate somebody merely because they were born somewhere other than where I was born is bizarro world to me.

I aim for peace in my Facebook world, so I hide the stuff I find especially questionable and move on with my day. But, you know, this morning while drinking my coffee and perusing my favorite news sites - typically the sites with slightly less troll behavior in the comments - I came across this picture.

It quite literally stopped my breath.

So here's what I have to say right now.

Don't talk to me about the sanctity of life if in the next breath you can start foaming at the mouth about "illegals" and the horrors they bring with them. Don't talk to me about what's "right" if in the next breath you can tell me what's "wrong" with so much hatred in your voice it chills me to my very core. Do not EVEN with your religion and values and morality speeches if you believe the people greeting this man and his children on the shore should push them back to sea.

We do not know this kind of desperation. We do not know this kind of fear. We do not understand what it is to live in a country so torn by war and devastation that we are willing to take our children and the clothes on our backs into a boat, risking our very lives, in the hope of finding safety. In the hopes of finding a place where our children can go to school without fear of a bomb crashing through the roof and play outside without being killed where they stand. WE DO NOT KNOW.

These are people, just like us, and how dare we - how freaking DARE we - deem them Less Than because they are not "ours." We are all people. We are all important. We all belong to this world. We all belong to each other.

So, don't. Just don't. And if you have a problem with me saying any of this, it's okay. We're allowed to disagree. But if it's THAT much of a problem then unfriend me. Do it now. Because if you could look this man in the eye and push him back to sea? I'm not sure I even want to know you anyway.

(photo credit Daniel Etter)

I'm sure you can find the original source if you want to (emphasis is mine).

There's emotion and power in the photo, certainly he's wearing an expensive watch, but that may be the most valuable thing he owns anymore. Can you imagine what that father must feel?

Now that isn't really what I wanted to side track to... what I wanted to say here. No. But it was the catalyst. There's no black box here, I don't hide shit from everyone, acknowledging inspriation is important. Esp when they are people...

I've been thinking a bit about the gun issue in the country.

Sure, some tighter regulations could be in effect. But someone said, in an unrelated topic that I can't remember exactly where. But. It comes down to how we treat people.

I think the that man who's name means fart in the UK catalysed it for many people. He's just mean, he's an asshole and people like that. They want an excuse to be mean. This is cultural.

Look at the drivers out there. They don't give a shit about pedestrians, cyclists or other drivers. DON'T SLOW ME DOWN! GET OUT OF MY WAY.

The ones that make me most surprised are the people with the equal stickers on their car. I guess equal only means if you feel equal or the special group of friends you care about are equal, not the other people you're bullying with your car.

The culture here is pretty sick. Look at the disregard for science.

Who said it "people feel safer with a gun than with health care"? I don't know, could probably search and find it but that's kind of it too.

There's still a great amount of goodness here. But the idea that you can exploit and captialize at will as long as you benefit and call it capitalism is pretty much ingrained.

Lobbiests. Hey you know what, lets spend a shit ton of money to try and make sure these health insurance companies can keep making massive profits.

I guess another comment I saw today: It no longer impactst the US economy when the Stock Market tanks, because really it is only there as a retirement for most people and then numbers say just over half of the US population owns stocks and they are, yup, tied up in retirement accounts. Do they impact daily spending? Nope.

Decoupled.

So this gun thing, look at the police shootings, their culture is such that they've had to devalue lives they are supposed to protect, except they find the only lives they seem worth protecting are their own anymore. Yes there are still, like this country, plenty of good officers, those who don't demonstrate it. But they seem to be a silent majority even if they are a majority.

Like the voting population who doesn't vote because they don't like any of the candidates. or who don't think it matters.

Total train wreck post here, all over the place but more like a puzzle that needs work to put together but you can see maybe what it is supposed to look like jsut enough to understand, hopefully.

I wish it was an easy fix. I hope it doesn't get worse. But what will it take? A billion people logged into that face place in a 24hr peroid this week. A BILLION. And what are they doing? are enough of them making a difference? Not 'round this country it seems.

I'm certainly probably misrepresnting frustrations, misdirecting blame. But I hate to say it but I don't think our problem is with guns as much as it is that people more and more just don't give a shit about anyone who isn't exactly like them. Jokes about the worst part of moving is aleinating another set of neighbors. That's this country. How physically isolated can I get yet still remain connected.

Yes, lets celebrate everyone, lets stop being negative towards introverts, but at the same time, lets not use that as an excuse to keep from pushing the envelop of comfort and lets interact with other humans and maybe have an emotional moment of empathy or sympathy or caring. On the bike you can interact. You're almost FORCED to interact. In a car? You can't really interact with anyone else. And people like that. "MY SPACE" "you on the outside, i'm going ignore you and pretend this thin bit of window glass is creating a totally silent enclosure and that I can't hear you trying to ask why i almost killed you with my car. "

The car? is that it is that the thread that weaves this together? I think it might.  I think potentially there's a good philosophy thesis in there somewhere. We drive past stuff, sure it looks bad but it isn't us. No matter what. But take that car away, then what. You have to WALK past that. You have to ride your bike past it. You aren't sheilded from the smell, the sounds, the words. You can put earphones in but you can't hide from the heat. from the cold. from the neglected roads.

And you have to interact. People's actions directly impact you. Yes you have to make sure you don't put yourself in the way of a bus or a truck, but they are big. Keep your head up.

And never pass anyone w/o asking if they need help, esp when they look like they might. How hard is that? Even if you can't offer much if anything, that simple jesture of asking, can't really be done in the car. It used to be done in the car. There was a time when no one had means to communicate with anyone else while they were driving. So when you broke down, people actually stopped to help. ALL THE TIME. No one EVER does anymore. They just assume you've called for help on your cell phone and are playing facebook games or scrolling through instagram while waiting for roadside assistance.

That isolation from the car culture is worse here in the US than most other places i'm guessing. It isn't the only thing wrong but I see a connecting thread and I know I'm probably doing the idea injustice by trying to get it out of my head, but maybe it is there.

We're a country of desensitized bullies. Behind the wheel of car, pointing a gun at someone, anchor babies, anti-assylum, anti-abortion, anti-healthcare.

bottom line:
We are all people. We are all important. We all belong to this world. We all belong to each other. 
is that...  we need to care for eachother, we need each other...

make a difference, even if it is just on a small scale...  simple gestures create ripples...ripples can make waves and waves can make changes.

I'm going for a walk,

heddwch
G