Campbell's Scoop: A slight shift in gears

Note: I realize that I stated earlier that my posts were going to be concentrated on Liverpool FC and this is true, I will talk a lot of Liverpool, but after reading Tristan’s post and of course, after the recent events in London, the kidnappings in Iraq, and the starving people of Niger I feel I am obligated to give my opinion on such matters.

Hello all,

Every time you turn on the TV, check your e-mail, hear the radio, read the paper, it is impossible to escape. It may be a different story, a different event, a different source, but it’s the same theme and topic - terrorism, hatred, poverty, and suffering. I don’t understand it, why is our world so horrible and cruel? How can we let fellow human beings starve to death while we stay in our bubbles? When I say this, let me explain that I don’t simply refer to the 1st world vs. 3rd world issues. I refer to human nature all together.

Just over the weekend, a group of friends and I were headed to a restaurant. While on the way, I noticed a scruffy looking person, almost certainly a student, sitting down on the pavement in front of a store. He looked hopeless, tired, hungry, and all the while, students walked by, running, laughing etc. It is quite possible that the person on the floor could have been a student and that those walking by, one of his peers. As my group strolled by, he didn’t even bother looking up or ask for money.

We spent about an hour and a half in the restaurant and during the meal I noticed something interesting. Some person came right up to our table and literally just asked bluntly, “do you have five dollars?” At this point, all of us at the table were shocked at the bluntness and simply said no. Afterwards, we conversed on how we hated beggers and for a brief moment, I felt nothing but pure hatred for beggers. However, when we were leaving I was very taken back by something I saw. I saw a middle aged man and his daughter kneeling down next to the student sitting on the pavement. They were just talking. I didn’t see the man give out money or anything, he just talked and I noticed them shake hands. I am not sure what was said but I’m almost certain they were words of comfort and at that point I felt very embarrassed. Here was this fellow student, sitting down on the pavement, looking very distressed and hopeless and all I did, even though I saw him, was just walk by. What harm would have come to me I had asked him if he was ok? The most would have been maybe him saying he was fine.

The reason I point out this event is to help explain to myself some questions. Why is our world so bad and cruel? Why do we hate each other so much and how can we let millions die of starvation when only a few dollars out of our pockets can make a difference? I just don’t get it.
We as fortunate individuals, place ourselves in a bubbles of ignorance and we refuse to learn and I must admit that I am one of these people. When I see something those programs on TV that exposes me to the real world, I turn it off or change the channel. I do it all the time-we all do it. Right now I feel like I’m a hypocrite. I say all these things but when it comes time for it, I don’t act. I remember feeling sick when I saw the news broadcast last night on the people in Niger,dying of starvation. But still I don’t act, why?

If you look into yourself, I’m sure that you’ve all experienced the same feeling. It seems that maybe we are just naturally cruel people? Maybe we are nothing but a violent and selfish species. Oh but isn’t that the law of nature? And that everyone looks out for themselves and its survival of the fittest? Isn’t that what all animals do? Well if you want to place yourself on the level of animals then yeah, go ahead. But humanity should be more than that. Humanity should carry with it an ideal that places us above the laws of nature and instinct. The concept of a society that has peace and equality is something that all humanity should strive for. For over 2000 years, we have been trying to establish a world for ourselves but still we are no where near the goal. But has it ever been the goal on a global scale? I don’t think so. It has always been about the success of the nation and but we fail to have that patriotic emotion for humanity as a whole. That little bit of hatred, greed, ignorance always will exist and until we learn and fully that we are all “related”, it will continue.

I am not at the level of enlightenment where I can bring sweeping changes into our world, but I feel that I must commit an individual act that will fulfill a minute fraction of the goal. Everyone, when born into our world, has rights but I feel that we also have obligations. Everyone is obligated to do their part in bringing our global society forward. The destruction of ignorance is a major factor and in the realization of the truth, we complete the first step and hopefully we will all open our eyes a little more and hopefully, act on the issue. I realize that of course, this task is enormous and obviously we can’t do everything, but a fraction from everyone will lead to the whole and by individuals understanding and accepting their role in society, our world will be a better place. Simply accepting it as it is, means you are satisfied with poverty and suffering in your life. We are at a point in time where turning the TV off is no longer an option and the global life is your life. What happens halfway around the world happens to your society as well, perhaps not on the physical level, but indeed on an ideological level.

So in conclusion, please open your eyes, listen, and realize that as individuals who have the opportunity, we can help to change our world.

Brock