A Falling Society

Tonight I watched a movie I hadn't seen since 1995, the movie is a French movie called La Haine (Hate). Without going into a long drawn out review of a 14 year old movie; suffice it to say that the images, the message and the movie as a whole have stuck with me through the years. Particularly the opening and closing monologues. Above you see the the closing monologue in the film and I think it's as good a place as any to start today's post.

-It's been 40 years since man first walked on the moon.
-It's been 41 years since Martin Luther King Jr was killed.
-It's been 44 year since Malcolm X was murdered.
-It's been 46 years since JFK was shot.
-It's been 61 years since Gandhi was assassinated.
-It's been 64 years since the creation of the United Nations.
-It's been 64 years since the end of World War II.

Today:
-In 2007 923,000,000 were considered to be starving. (an increase of 81,000,000 since 1990)
-Countless people live under ruthless governments.
-We still purchase clothing made in sweatshops.
-We spend more money on movies than on charity.
-Thousands of political prisoners are being held for their views.
-Women are being raped.
-Children are forced to serve as soldiers.
-Ethnic cleansing is a daily reality for certain people.

Sure, we conquered the moon, we have the internet, we have cars that go really fast and big screen TVs. We all fall asleep at night in our safe little bed in our safe little neighborhoods knowing that we're going to be okay. What about the 923,000,000 victims of hunger? What about the thousands of prisoners of conscience? What about the women being raped and the children that are forced to kill? Do they ever haunt your dreams?

Recently, I have to admit that they have been haunting mine. It's the worst feeling in the world waking up feeling powerless to change things, powerless to help or to reach out and take someone's hand and tell them it'll be alright.

So despite mankind's advances, all or our technical marvels and our scientific wonders; because of man's indifference we are still and always have been a falling society and our way down we keep saying so far so good... so far so good... so far so good...

But where will we land? The choice is ours.

We're Just Doing it for the Cause

I woke up this morning and had my coffee and for some reason I got to thinking of causes and of people who rally behind them. There are a million worthy causes in the world such as Aids Research, Amnesty International, Doctors and Reporters Without Borders, everyone who fights for their freedom against oppressive governments and the list goes on and on and on.

I don't want to judge people and their respective causes because that's not what this post is about. What this post is about is just me trying to figure out what makes people tick, what drives some of them to follow these causes with their lives. Whether it's Jihadists blowing themselves up or animal rights activists that risk jail time for rescuing lab rats, or people who chain themselves to trees to save the rain forest.

Some causes are easier to understand and relate to: people who genuinely fight for their own right to exist, people who speak out against atrocities committed by their governments, people who risk it all so that the lives of future generations are spent in the same hell that they live in. No problem, I get that. I understand why they do what they do, in fact in their situations I'd probably do it too.

But the tree huggers? Really? I understand that the environment is important, really important, and they should keep lobbying to have their voices and concerns heard. But eco activists who burn down museums and damage property to get a point across is beyond me. What makes you wake up one morning and say: "You know, I really like that birch tree in the yard... I'm going to blow some stuff up to make sure no one ever cuts it down..." That's what I want to understand, how you go from everyday person to captain planet.

People against animal cruelty... again I understand. I have two dogs and I hate to think that people (such as the makers of IAMs) mistreat animals in their testing labs. So you stop buying IAMs and write a letter to your parliament asking them to pass a law against animal cruelty. But when that doesn't work, what is it that sets something off in your head and makes you break into laboratories and vandalize things? Why risk your freedom for the cause?

Instead of chaining yourself to a tree or making a human chain around a makeup testing lab, why not chain yourselves around the Chinese Embassy and demand freedom for Tibet? Why not travel to Cuba and perform a sit-in in front of Canaleta prison and demand freedom for political prisoners and free thinkers? Why not go to Burma and march peacefully on the streets with the monks during the Saffron Revolution? Why not go to Darfur and burn down the military installations of those committing atrocities over there? If I were to risk jail time I would do it for a cause like that: the right to think, the right to speak, the right to exist.

But as far as the rest is concerned, I'm going to need someone to explain this to me...

Muchacho Enfermo

Mobilization

I couldn't decide which image to use... So I used them both. The first one is mine, the second one if from Octavo Cerco.