People with Liberal philosophies, like myself, are being adressed by a couple of local bloggers this week. Christian Grantham over at NiT is calling us out over our perceived silence about the abuses of eminent domain. Ms. Ginger, while not necessarily targeting Liberals, is wondering how so many people of Faith feel removed from what is happening to our immigrant neighbors. I thought S-Town Mike did a great job of explaining why some of us choose to focus on human rights issues as opposed to property rights issues.
But even S-Town Mike has, in the past, wondered aloud about why certain Progressive bloggers don’t engage on hyper-local issues, like zoning. I cannot tell you how many times I sat down to my own keyboard, full of righteous indignation, intending to take everyone to task for not being as outraged as I am over one issue or another. Iraq. Peak Oil. Global warming. Sweatshops and child labor. Immigration. FISA. Voter fraud. Graft and corruption both in the private and public sector. The list is endless.
I’m reminded how I felt immediately after Columbine. Terrified first, then furious, then, finally, heartsick. By the time a lone gunman shot and killed dozens at Virginia Tech, I was numb, but not at all indifferent. There were several mass shootings between those two incidents, and each one acted a bit like a shot of novacaine to my heart, until all I could do was utter “tsk- tsk” and go on about my day. Clearly, we have evolved in a way that our minds find a way to process information without the need of filtering that information through our souls first, or, maybe ever.
I am constantly disappointed in human behavior, including my own. It is perhaps the greatest challenge I face….to find perfection in everything that happens. I’m easily spun. Pull my coat to something seemingly outrageous and I will work myself into a frenzy in short order. Man, I do bow-up, and right fast. I’ll grab my shield and sword and charge, screaming at the top of my lungs…only to be crushed when I glance behind me to see that only a handful of others have joined the fray. What to do, then? Should I continue to plunge headlong into a hopelessly lop-sided battle, and hope, by my example, that others will take up the fight? Thats probably what I think I do, when, truthfully, I start to look for any justification to blame others for not being where I am, in their own heads.
I used to get pretty hot when I’d read important posts, about serious problems, and find that after someone took the time and effort to write about it, there would only be a handful of comments. But let someone shove a beam into their boobs and post about it…and there would be 99 comments in the first hour. (not picking on you, B, just an example, and more often than not, you are the one writing the serious, important posts) Again, perhaps its just the way humans have of dealing with a world chock full of outrage.
I know of no answers, except for myself. Maybe thats the best any of us can do….reconcile ourselves with the events of the world and react in a way that allows us to improve ourselves…or not. I know that I am taking more time to just sit quietly, and breathe, and listen, and not judge. I manage about a minute a day. I’m shooting for much more, mind you, but its a start, right?
