The day we (as a human race) start giving the same importance to ANY death in the world... that day we will truly be one race. My thoughts are with the people in France; but also with the people in Lebanon, the people in Syria, the people in Sudan, Nigeria, Iraq... and EVERYWHERE WHERE INNOCENT PEOPLE ARE UNJUSTLY DYING.
43 people died in Beirut the same Friday 13th... and I didn't see the same amount of condolences (not even half) for them. 200 kids were brutally killed in Syria and it was shown in a video released just 5 days ago. 200 kids!! All of them lay down in line and being shot in their little heads one by one. Still I haven't seen anybody in any social media saying anything about it. NO ONE. And I wonder how could have been the 'world/net reaction' if these kids where from other more rich country...
It is very frustrating and unfair. We are losing our sense of empathy. Every person killed in a terrorist attack, in war zones, in concetration camps, in slave camps, in guerrilla situations... Every single one should be shameful and should put us all in a mourning mode. How awful is the world we live in now where the dead of some become trending topics and hashtags and icons for profile pictures while the dead of some others are just a "thing" in the news... or not even that.
I can understand that human beings are selfish creatures because of a 'survival instinct'. We feel more 'shocked' for the dead of a kid in our neighborhood than the dead of a kid who is from 10.000 miles away. That's human. It's not a crime.
But empathy is a human thing as well. The value of people's life shouldn't be different depending on their nationality, beliefs or economical situation. Every life matters.
Thanks for reading.
Comments
Hello Eva, I do agree with your comments, specially the last one "our dear Mary is a wonderful woman, her points of view are golden thoughts I wish every person could have such point of views"
Thanks for your words...
Gerardo, I totally understand your feelings and what you say. I feel myself very angry every time I see the world's injustices and how innocent people are suffering from the selfishness and wickedness of a few. It's completely normal to feel outrage and anger in these situations.
In these terrorism acts, the first thing we all would wish to do is to apply the Law of Talion, that says: "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth...". As you said, sometimes it looks like the only solution, because the only 'language' that terrorists understand it seems to be the language of violence.
But then I also think that "you can kill a man, but you can't kill an idea". Even worse: if you start killing all these terrorists, there will be a point where you'll turn them into 'martyrs' at someone's eyes. There always be someone who'll have these 'violent' ideas.
So what's the solution? You said it yourself: Education. That's the key.
Education (just like a good knowledge of history) is the best 'medicine' against violence. I think that's the only way to improve our supposed 'most peaceful era'...
In this way, I also hope we can build a better world, Gerardo. Again, thanks a heap for sharing your thoughts here :)
Hello my dear Mary, sorry for my late reply, I´ve watched the video, it´s a very complicated situation. In the end, there is always money behind any war. Like a friend says "war, politics and religion are the most profitable business around the world".
Mary, I agree with you violence is not the right solution, but as I told you "some people don´t understand reasons, don´t want to discuss their ideas, they´re always right". So what can we do? We have to fight. I know it doesn´t sound good, believe it or not, we´re living in the most peaceful era in human history (http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-20208505); I´m not sure what is the reason for these, but I think it could be the rise of education and the establishment of authority. We have learned, there are rules that we must follow in order to create a better world.
And for those who have been broken in the wars... I don´t know how to say them
Have a wonderful day my friend, and never give up, we can build a better world.
Thank you both, Gerardo and Estanis.
Gerardo, of course the terrorists have to pay for their acts, and this problem should be solved... But I'm not sure if violence should be fought with more violence... There has to be another way.
Anyway, I think right now an important thing we all can do is to understand why this is happening and how everything started. Here is a video i watched the other day that I'd like to share with you both, Gerardo and Estanis (because it's in spanish) It's very short and clear... I'd be really happy if you take few min to check it :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJtUQjJC4a0
Thanks a lot.
Hello everybody, I understand you Estanis, I felt the same like you, but I try to understand, I should never act when I´m angry, it´s a bad thing.
Mary, you´re rigth, unfortunately a victim of the terrorism in a poor country has not the same value than a victim in a rich country. But Europe must respond these attacks, terrorists should know that the world is ready to confront them. Trust me, you can´t talk with these kind of people, sometimes violence is inevitable.
Thanks for your blog Mary, you´re a brave woman, everything would be easy if many people think like you.
Yes, there're misunderstandings but I won't make excuses since I sounded rude. I'm still learning not to act just in the heat of the moment, even online. My apologies.
Thanks Lady Noor. Maybe this is the first time we can agree about something (more or less) and I'm happy for that... even if I don't agree with everything you say (the abortion comment is totally out of place and unfortunate, but I'm gonna 'ignore' that now) the important message here now is that all kind of violence should be equally condemned, and not being more or less 'important' depending on the nationality, beliefs or economical situation.
Thank you so much for your comment setareh, I couldn't have explained it better. You made one of the best reflections I've read these days :)
While back I watched a movie about Afghanistan and there were so many limbless kids; it was a very sad scene . While some great people are trying to save lives by finding cure for incurable diseases there are some who kill people in the blink of an eye.
Is it the world we wish to live? How could we claim that we are civilized? Does it matter if we can transfer tons of information in an instant but we can not have sympathy for eachother?
Oh dear Mary, I really don't know how to put my feelings into words, but I severely condemn any kinds of brutality towards innocent people especially kids. Thanks for your great post.
Estanis, my dear 'neighbour', as you always tell me ;) Thanks for your comment, I think this time we have some misunderstandings or different points of view here...
First of all, when you say that the attacks in France 'were arranged by irrationality'... yeah you're totally right about that... but just in France? Is not EVERY TERRORIST ACT, ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, IRRATIONAL?? Or it is just that we feel it more terrible when it's close to us??
After that, you mention something where I don't get to know your point very well... I don't really know why you say (ironically I guess) that the 'solution' would be to close every country's borders. And then you make a connection between immigration and terrorism that I find really dangerous and very inappropiate...
I'm sorry Estanis, but this time is being difficult for me to get to understand your point...
Finally, you make a kind of distinction between the feelings of developed countries' people and (I guess) people from other underdeveloped countries??? Why???? Who said anything about what people from more developed countries should feel??? I'm not talkin' here as someone from a supposed 'developed' country... I'm takin' here as A PERSON. And about 'WE' as people, normal citizens around the world. I'm not making any distinction about developed/underdeveloped citizens and feelings. THAT'S THE THING! every terrorism act should be SAME important for EVERYBODY (rich, poor, religious, atheist... EVERYBODY), no matter where it happens!.
I really have NO IDEA about what you understood of what I said, for telling me in your comment if I think that people from developed countries should feel more ashamed (????!!!) I admit that I'm really 'lost' here...
Estanis, here I'm just wondering why it seems that our grief and outrage is so selective... This is an exercise in self-criticism. C'mon, you can see it yourself! Turn on the TV and you'll see all the channels dedicating special shows to the events in Paris. But how many news have you found about the terrorist act in Beirut? I'm not saying we have now to calculate the time dedicated to every news to be sure that we dedicate to each one the same exact number of minutes. What really catches my attention is to see how exaggerated is the difference between the coverage given to a same act in two different countries. This is a fact that we all can see, and we can't put all the blame in the global media. Now, thanks to the Internet and the social media sites we are part of this as well. We are also responsible if this keeps happening.
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