Sometimes there’s very little that can be said, but so much that can be done. This dystopian reality we live in, is nothing short of a nightmare. There are atrocities happening on every corner of the globe, in every culture, in every language, and we are all responsible. It’s not enough that natural disasters and calamities affect us, we have to make the lives of those worse off than us difficult, we have to create man-made disasters. And just because our western media grossly neglect the atrocities that are committed by the so-called “world powers”, we turn a heavily blind eye to everything which isn’t occurring outside our doorstep…unless of course, the media decide they want to showcase a story for the rest of the week.
It is now surrealism to imagine a world where people can get along and accept each other’s differences, we no longer have leaders who are the voice of reason and peace. And what’s scarier than that? The fact that these people who incite violence and difference through their silence are the very people who we have put in power. Shame on us as a collective. We are failing in making our voices heard over the deafening noise created by those who have no regard for the lives of anyone different to them. We have become the very people that history has fought over decades, the people that turn a blind eye, the people that try to “ethnically cleanse”, the people that repeat the worst atrocities in history, the people that use violent and inciting words when discussing war with conflicting partners, the list is endless.
What’s worse is that these brewing indifferences is only a start, the poison has spread amongst us, we have let racism, sexism and xenophobia take over like the viruses that they are; we have allowed society to become spoiled and corrupt. This isn’t the world we should leave as inheritance to the generations to come, what have we done to diffuse the tensions that we have unnecessarily created? What have we done to make those who are different to the majority feel safe and respected? What have we done to project the voices of those whose voices are being throttled and reduced to weeping? It only takes one step from one person, to go forward, and that is a step every single person can take. We can smile. We can help lend a hand. We can talk to someone who looks lost and scared. We can take one step. No step is nothing, each step is worth something, I’d like to believe that each step taken with a positive attitude leads to a Butterfly effect somewhere else in the world…a step towards helping an elderly person get into the bus, makes the life of a Syrian refugee a little less fearful for one night. But we can’t stop, we have to keep taking those steps and we have to inspire everyone we know to do the same. I’m not saying donate all of your belongings, or all your money, just a little bit of time, just a step.
PS. Titular reference…now more so than I ever, am I finding myself asking this question…the question from a hymn I remember from school.
Ramblings of a Muffintop 