A World Gone Mad

It's hard to say if the world is truly crazier than ever before or if we just know more because of the internet. It stands to reason that the increased population also increases the madness. I remember years ago a boyfriend and I rescued a bunch of mice from the dumpster area outside our work place. Having seen the effect of the poison used to exterminate them, we thought we were doing a good thing. We bought a little cage to keep them in and before we knew it, the population had increased dramatically. As the little cage became more crowded, the mice began attacking one another chewing the ears off of each other. Though comparing human beings to mice may seem like a huge leap, in many ways we are not so different.

We do horrible things to the world in the name of feeding an ever growing population. From pesticides, inhumane animal practices, and environmental manipulation on a grand scale, we make peace with atrocity. The refugee situation highlights this fact with many turning their backs on humanity because those humans are somehow different than us. If we can dehumanize them we can ignore them, or worse. I can understand the concern of a large influx of people and the impact on community and resources. I don't know if the time is ever right to help others but is the time ever really wrong?

There are no easy solutions but rather than pointing fingers and laying blame, I think we should be looking for solutions. We might begin by asking ourselves tough questions about why we feel threatened and what would we do if the tables were turned?  A closer examination of our beliefs and more importantly, our actions might render a better understanding of our role in the craziness of the world. I am not suggesting understanding alone can penetrate extremism but extreme by the very definition is not the norm.  Attacking one another is the tipping point but where does it begin? Anger, resentment, bias all start somewhere and if we fan the flame, it grows. There will always be evil but we must not become it.

Yesterday while browsing in a Ross store, I had an encounter with an unpleasant woman. She pushed her basket in my direction and I moved so she could pass. She stopped after passing to tell me how she had had two negative encounters recently in similar circumstances because "those people" are rude. In about three minutes I discovered she was referring to people of color. I also discovered she had nose surgery, had worked in customer service for 21 years but was unemployed for 8, but I digress. The point is, she felt we, by virtue of our whiteness, had something in common. I was both saddened and angered by that but chose to apply my rule of three.

I have told my daughter to try and treat others in one of three ways. Be kind. If you can't be kind, be tolerant. If you can't be tolerant try not to be an a-hole! I told the woman I hoped things got better for her and walked away. I meant something deeper than what she probably heard. On a day when most of my Facebook feed was of friends and family showing solidarity for France, I wondered how much we truly live what we "like"? Can we really be the change we wish to see in the world?

When I was a kid there were a number of Cambodian refugees that immigrated into my area. I remember feeling a little resentful when the girl next door had a bike to ride and I didn't. It didn't occur to me that she was stuck in the same crappy, low income neighborhood and receiving government assistance just like me. It was a melting pot and I was just as much of a minority as anyone. The common thread was poverty but I am guessing my version of suffering was nothing compared to what that family had endured to live next door. They were not to blame for my plight, my life was not worse for their presence.

I am reminded of the James Keller quote, "a candle loses nothing by lighting another candle". Being of generous spirit and doing unto others has nothing to do with giving people a free ride. I don't want to make friends with the neighbor that touched me inappropriately, the girl that beat me up in Jr. High or the man that held a knife to my throat.  I do want to understand and make sense of the world. Understanding that a lot of the things people do often has less to do with what they look like and more to do with circumstance and opportunity. Knowing how it feels to not see a future, to be overwhelmed with struggle and to feel yourself losing your humanity has allowed me to empathize and forgive. In my mind this is a much better solution than wanting to chew the ears off my fellow humans and is a little piece of sanity in a world gone mad.