Big Talk vs. Big Action

Few things are more dangerous to genuinely crucial topics of concern than a false sense of interest based on a false sense of security. We have been taught from our youth that appropriate behavior for an enlightened society is to be multi-cultural and to show an interest in the world affairs and plight of those in circumstances less fortunate than our own.

However, this enlightened concern patronizes those who are actually in the situation by making it seem as though concern is something that can be afforded to the wealthy from a distance. Meanwhile we can sit in our air conditioned, publicly funded radio/television studios or comfortable, expensive coffee houses and debate in theory the issues genuinely impacting others throughout the world.

By debating we have a free flow of ideas and that free flow of ideas allows everyone some modicum of participation. One can feel connected to the topic by discussing it in the abstract.

But feigning interest in a topic or discussing it purely in abstract terms for the sake of sounding concerned without having an interest in the practical administation of the concerns or the practical needs of the HUMAN BEINGS in the situation is worse than not having an interest at all.

This enlightened conversation has painted these human beings as single dimensional figures and (without meaning to--the question here is not intent but result) paints a picture meant to serve as a warning, to prove one's knowledge, to express the deep sadness, but which does NOT accomplish anything practical or useful or real for those about whom one can only speak in abstract.

Do not allow the "enlightened" view of the world fool you into thinking that deep philisophical debate puts bread on the table for one single individual in need. Do not think that because you are able to participate in this debate that that individual somehow psychicly feels your concern.

Get your hands dirty. Be willing to go beyond your own safe, anti-bacterial world to actually make the difference.

DO something big. Don't just TALK big.

Reinforcing Tyranny

The latest report from the LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran1-2009jul01,0,4811927.story) on July 1, 2009 stated that the Iranian government is still confident that it can entirely put out the flame of protest in its country. Groups who previously stood behind the protesters are now saying that the bloodshed and the pain has reached a critical level and is too much. They are suggesting that the protesters sit this one out.
Pictured above is a university student who was recently beaten into a coma by government officials in Iran. Added to the recent Youtube videos of other students being shot and beaten one can definitely understand the concern of these groups. Sitting comfortably in a nation that prides itself on individual liberties where one rarely has to stand up for what one believes in, it is almost incomprehensible that a call for a free and fair election could result in such brutality--or that one would want to continue to subject themselves to such brutality for something as intangible as an election.

With that (and the understanding that being in the time and place of the brutality offers a perspective and the ability to make the decision whether or not to continue the fight) the following is the humble opinion of one activist minded person:

The youth in Iran cannot give up. Those who have taken to the streets demanding their rights must continue to fight. Yes--this student and every other protester who has been brutalized in this traumatic stiuation have suffered. But to sit down now and allow the government to continue its ways will only serve to further the agenda of the oppressive regime. These Freedom Walkers have fought too hard, suffered through too much, and endured for too long for their efforts to have been in vain.

To stop now, to give up, to sit down, will only reinforce the tyranny of the current regime.

As for the international community:

Financial and military support may not be feasible or practical right now. It is understood that they may have to fight this fight on their own. But, would it be too much to ask that the free people of the world stand up and give support morally and verbally to these protesters? They're not asking for the overthrow of a peaceful, democratic, government--they are demanding that their voices be heard in a FREE and FAIR election! We must support them.

Those on the inside have said that they can handle this fight--as long as they know that there are people on the outside who support them.

We MUST give them this support!

Tyranny will last only as long as we cower in the corner, begging for mercy.

Conflict of Interest?

The recent situation in Iran was initially the center of much international media coverage. Most explicitly, the video coverage of Neda Agha-Soltan, the 26-year-old Iranian philosophy student who was viciously gunned down during a protest of the state's recent election. Many are claiming that the election was fixed--the protesters have taken to the street demanding their right to free and fair elections. This woman boldly told her friend, "Its only one bullet," when asked if she was afraid to die. She then paid the price for her bravery with her life. It was broadcast on Youtube and covered by some of the major networks.

Members of the British embassy were arrested over the weekend because the Iranian government believes they've been instrumental in the latest protests.

And then Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and Billy Mays died. Obama's latest speech was interrupted by a rude cell phone. California is being forced to issue IOU's because they can't pay their bills right now. How quickly we forget that there is an entire world with bigger issues than our latest celebrity funeral.

Where is the outcry? Where is the indignation? Where is the strong message from the leader of one of the most powerful nations in the world regarding the safety of these protesters or the fundamental human rights that America was founded on: freedom of speech, expression, and assembly? He proudly declared that his administration had pushed the Middle East in the direction of democracy when he gave his speech in Egypt a few months ago. Then he realized that the election was a sham and we've heard very little from him since.

Its disconcerting.

Moreso, is the absolute lack of interest from the public. There has been some modicum of outcry, yes, but the overall media coverage is reduced to a tiny "Special Features" link at the bottom of major news websites. Michael Jackson's untimely and unfortunate death, however, recieves three links at the top of the page. Sometimes, with a picture.

When did we stop giving a damn? When did the VERY public, VERY exposed, VERY brutal death of young women in the streets stop bothering us?

Is it just because we feel our own financial, political, fill-in-you-blank-here needs are not being met?

When did freedom become the birthright of a small few--taken completely for granted and hardly extended?

Fence Sitting is Harmful

The line between what is right and what is wrong is becoming increasingly blurred in our present society. At what point did we stop standing up for our convictions? And it may be that we never actually perpetrate crime ourselves, but to sit by idly and cover our eyes hoping a situation will just get better might as well be an all-out condoning of the action. 

This principle is at play in every level of world politics from the most intimate personal relationships to the precariously balanced relationship of nations not wishing court the ill-will of perpetrating nations and thus closing their eyes to atrocity daily. At some point we have to stop being so spineless. Atrocity persists because we permit it to persist. By not demanding action we are complicit in the continuation of the situations at hand. 

Take this to a small level. Say that friend A and friend B were walking down the street. Friend A decides to beat up Friend C. In order to preserve relations with both, friend B doesn't say anything and instead holds his hands over his eyes. Friend A is guilty of a assault. Friend B is complicit in the crime. 

Now, let's take this a little larger. Nation A and Nation B are friends. Nation A decides to finance the human rights atrocities committed by Nation C. Because Nation B is almost entirely supported by exports to and imports from Nation A, they decide to casually pretend that nothing is going on. Or at best be very slow to respond. They're also trying to preserve relations with Nation C since alienating them would in turn alienate Nation A. Nation A is guilty. Nation C is guilty. Nation B is complicit. 

The sad state of affairs in our world is that we stand by and allow things to happen to people we care about, we stand by and watch other nations get decimated, and we stand by and watch entire people groups be destroyed because we care more about our own interests and our perceived "peace" then we do about the reality which is that people suffer and die daily without any intervention by anyone who can. 

Its high time we started standing on our convictions instead of allowing them to be pretty rhetoric. Get off the fence and stand for something...or risk falling for anything.