I've shared the meme here before on social media, but this time I'm posting it here as well and adding an editorial. It's time for me to say things out loud that I've been avoiding. The meme says, "It's okay to be heartbroken for more than one group of people at a time."
Life is not binary. We are not ones or zeros. Yet we are becoming ever more habituated to "good/bad," "right/wrong" and "if you're not for us, you're against us." We also have difficulty in distinguishing differences in "kind" and differences of "degree." Context, commonality, intent, and other important factors are ignored in favor of "us vs them" tribalism.
Yes - tribalism and blood feuds. I started watching Turkish historical dramas several years ago, augmented with Great Courses on Middle Eastern history. Besides the history itself, I looked for propaganda as the Turkish government shifted away from the pre-Erdogan secular mode of government, plus of course checking the tales against the historical sources.
And I noticed how repetitious it was. Seljuk, Ottoman, the Crusaders, the Mongols... be they tribes, nations, families, empires - for centuries the story was "cut 'n paste" episodes of slaughter, conquest, defeat, rinse, repeat. Land, religion, who had the tallest hat, biggest god and rinse and repeat again. But now our weapons are so much bigger and more efficient and there are so many of us we're all quite expendable.
At first, I thought the writers were lazy but then I realized how much the repetition reflects our current and ongoing crises. Talking with my friends of both persuasions I hear them resorting to the same devices - comparing body counts, using "zero-sum" logic that acknowledging wrong by one party somehow excuses the other and so on.
A friend voicing despair asked me how we can find any hope. My answer is always a variation on the "look for the helpers." Sometime they're right next to us, as was my friend. So instantly I knew there were two of us trying to fix things. Vanessa Burnett makes three, magnifying her count by how many via the inspiring words she writes.
And so on. Again, I'll quote Ambrose - "just keep walkin' ." We're not walkin' alone though, and it ain't over 'til there are no more of us.
Yes - the heartbreak is serious. Whether it be a close friend or the millions we've never met - now there's a thought on the positive side for our species - how many other sentient creatures worry about others of their kind or even are aware they exist? Blessing or a curse. Whatever - we have that ability. Where was I? Oh - yes - it's definitely ok to care and hurt for others, near or far. It's a special characteristic of being "us." We need to get it through our heads that we are *all* "us" and learn to make that something good.
I do not understand why it is so difficult for some people to relate to both sides of the horrible tragedy that is unfolding in Gaza. The Palestinians and the Israelis are PEOPLE...just like you and me...and everyone else. How can some people "draw lines" for who deserves compassion and who doesn't? We created the misery in Israel/Palestine when we created the state of Israel and relegated the people who lived there already--the Palestinians--to second-class status. What happened on October 7 was an atrocity. What has happened since then is also an atrocity. How do we make it stop--all of it--without recognizing the humanity of everyone who is caught up in the atrocities?
Life is not binary. We are not ones or zeros. Yet we are becoming ever more habituated to "good/bad," "right/wrong" and "if you're not for us, you're against us." We also have difficulty in distinguishing differences in "kind" and differences of "degree." Context, commonality, intent, and other important factors are ignored in favor of "us vs them" tribalism.
Yes - tribalism and blood feuds. I started watching Turkish historical dramas several years ago, augmented with Great Courses on Middle Eastern history. Besides the history itself, I looked for propaganda as the Turkish government shifted away from the pre-Erdogan secular mode of government, plus of course checking the tales against the historical sources.
And I noticed how repetitious it was. Seljuk, Ottoman, the Crusaders, the Mongols... be they tribes, nations, families, empires - for centuries the story was "cut 'n paste" episodes of slaughter, conquest, defeat, rinse, repeat. Land, religion, who had the tallest hat, biggest god and rinse and repeat again. But now our weapons are so much bigger and more efficient and there are so many of us we're all quite expendable.
At first, I thought the writers were lazy but then I realized how much the repetition reflects our current and ongoing crises. Talking with my friends of both persuasions I hear them resorting to the same devices - comparing body counts, using "zero-sum" logic that acknowledging wrong by one party somehow excuses the other and so on.
A friend voicing despair asked me how we can find any hope. My answer is always a variation on the "look for the helpers." Sometime they're right next to us, as was my friend. So instantly I knew there were two of us trying to fix things. Vanessa Burnett makes three, magnifying her count by how many via the inspiring words she writes.
And so on. Again, I'll quote Ambrose - "just keep walkin' ." We're not walkin' alone though, and it ain't over 'til there are no more of us.
Yes - the heartbreak is serious. Whether it be a close friend or the millions we've never met - now there's a thought on the positive side for our species - how many other sentient creatures worry about others of their kind or even are aware they exist? Blessing or a curse. Whatever - we have that ability. Where was I? Oh - yes - it's definitely ok to care and hurt for others, near or far. It's a special characteristic of being "us." We need to get it through our heads that we are *all* "us" and learn to make that something good.
I do not understand why it is so difficult for some people to relate to both sides of the horrible tragedy that is unfolding in Gaza. The Palestinians and the Israelis are PEOPLE...just like you and me...and everyone else. How can some people "draw lines" for who deserves compassion and who doesn't? We created the misery in Israel/Palestine when we created the state of Israel and relegated the people who lived there already--the Palestinians--to second-class status. What happened on October 7 was an atrocity. What has happened since then is also an atrocity. How do we make it stop--all of it--without recognizing the humanity of everyone who is caught up in the atrocities?