Monday, July 11, 2005

P.S.

A few more words about my mood yesterday. Cooter, you're right on. Being uninformed/informed doesn't change the facts of our country's involvement in Iraq. The fear I was feeling was not for my own personal safety, but more despair about the likelihood of continued retaliation that the London bombings will no doubt justify.

I just don't want to be paralyzed into inaction or apathy by fear, and believe that the Patriot Act and other erosions of our personal privacies and freedoms are shackles that 'we' (I speak generally here) willingly assume as a result of feeling this amorphous sense of insecurity. The vibrations of fear foster distrust, alienation, and defensiveness. I rue the mindset that allows our President to talk about "compassion" and "hope" while at the same time sending more troops to die, killing more innocent civilians, and believing in the invulnerability of 'the American way' in cultures that oppose our belief system and values.

And I don't have answers either; just know that for myself, being in a state of anxiety means that I can be more easily thrown off of the philosophy of kindness, compassion and loving action vs. suspicion and aggression.

5 Comments:

At 7/11/05, 8:47 AM, Blogger Christopher said...

Take care Taza, it appears there are a few of us that share your feelings.

 
At 7/11/05, 11:52 AM, Blogger Me said...

See, now this post makes complete and utter sense to me. Maybe I was reading something into the prior post?

But I do understand how easy it is to become overwhelmed by all the things 'we' (as in the collective group of voting U.S. citizens) have set into action that allows for a hypocritical president to make decisions that adversely affect us all, as well as the lack of control we have over other tragedies taking place in the world. It really is overwhelming, and at odd times I'll get little panic attacks that make the soles of my feet hurt. Wtf is up with THAT? So I do share your feelings, Taza. I just wish I knew how to cope with it better.

 
At 7/12/05, 11:45 AM, Blogger I n g e r said...

I'm with Cootera: yours is, in my view, the only rational response to the landscape.

I heard a Muslim man on our local NPR station saying that the people in London who lost loved ones are no different from the people in Afghanistan and Iraq who've lost people. "People are always the victims of their government's actions," he said. I'm not saying it right; it really struck me--I wanted to pull over and write it down. It positioned all of humanity together, on one plane: set apart and opposed to each other artificially. What would the world look like if there were no countries--just the whole lot of us? Earthlings.

OK, I'm getting goofy.

I've determined to live the odds: the odds are that nothing bad will happen to me or anyone I love. That keeps the fear at bay, and frees me up to stay compassionate. Otherwise I'd be packing the babies under my arms and heading for the hills...

 
At 7/12/05, 10:46 PM, Blogger taza said...

We didn't used to be able to know all the crap that was going down on the planet. Before CNN, Internet, 24-hr news services, etc., it was possible to *not* know stuff that was happening half the world away. So as the planet shrinks, does our responsibility expand?

I went back and reread the Possibility Network declaration and realized that's as good of an answer as I need/can use. I can intend change, growth, and transformation for the entire world as well as for myself. Every action must first begin as an idea, a thought, a spark....

Thanks for the support, y'all!
:)

 
At 7/13/05, 5:15 AM, Blogger Me said...

Hmm... another nugget to think about: our responsibility snowballing as the world gets smaller/more 'connected'.

I've often thought of this one in the context of how the media shapes our understanding of the world around us. In a way, it WAS a lot easier to go about daily life when we were in the dark about those things we weren't privy to before the days of the internet, et al. And, as a blanket statement (which I generally despise), don't you think the ethics of those upon whom we relied for our information were a LOT more about the facts than they are now? Anymore, it seems to be all about the American dream of making money, being sensational. And I have to say that grain of salt can only go so far before disbelief sets in. Yeah, we're fighting a 'war against terror' and we hear about attacks on our soldiers while they're passing out candy to children. Uh huh... and this is the 'news' we seek?

I don't know. It's frightening to me that a concentration goes more toward our acts of 'generosity' as if we're doing them a FAVOR. I fear our history books will never do justice to a situation that is ugly no matter how you look at it, yet the U.S. will be painted in the light of a benevolent uncle.

Ok, I'm rambling. And I need more coffee. Thanks for brain shakes, Taza. I evidently need to spend more time thinking about the greater good... and hopefully that will, indeed, *spark* something.

 

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