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stella41b -> RE: Humanity? Responsibility? (8/12/2009 9:39:36 PM)
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I see the behaviours related in the OP but I refuse to write off people or individuals and have a very strong, unshakeable faith in human nature.
I'm of the view that no matter how bad, how sick or how depraved we judge someone to be and their actions there is a certain quality of life and that capacity to learn and the potential for human nature to triumph.
Even in the harshest and toughest prisons anywhere in the world if you care to look you will, always find evidence of human nature whether it be brotherhood among fellow inmates or mothers and families who continue to visit their loved ones in spite of the crimes they have committed.
I work with the homeless, including the street homeless and have been one of them myself, and it is here, at the lowest level of society where the evidence of humanity, responsibility and sense of community is often at its strongest. It is these people - human beings who have often been reduced to and are often perceived as no different from the cigarette butts and discarded fast food containers by a society of people who no longer care.
And 'care' to me is the crux of the matter when we look at society today and wonder where it is going wrong.
To me it's very evident where we have gone wrong and it's been my view ever since the definition of success was changed to making a profit and competitiveness was seen by many as better than the sense of community we appear to have lost. It is this competitiveness which further defined success as making a profit at all costs as many of us struggle to keep up with the rest and avoid and look down on those we perceive to be weaker or less competitive.
We have gone through a period of technological advances in the last 30 or so years which have completely revolutionized the way we live - everywhere from work, healthcare to the way we socialize, seek entertainment, form relationships and even maintain contact with our loved ones and families. The pace of life is much quicker, in some cases there's more distance and I'm sure we all know the feeling of wanting to do things with other people but either we don't have the time, the money, or the energy.
Basically many of us have stopped caring except when it is absolutely necessary, I'm sure many of us know this and are aware of this, but we find ourselves seeking excuses and justification for the way things have become. In fact sometimes I feel we have become a society of individuals inclined to blame society as a whole because it is much easier and requires much less effort than seeing yourself as part of the problem and also the start of the solution. All too often we see the solution as involving other people when it isn't always necessarily so.
Usually I feel we have been conditioned to compete with others through our lives and personal circumstances whether it be getting a job, holding down a job, not having a job, having debts, responsibilities etc and we have conditioned ourselves to fear such things as poverty, unemployment, debt, and other such adversity while looking down on others who we perceive not to be making as much effort as us, but is this really true?
You see no matter how much adversity we face life goes on. Go to the poorer districts of town and you will still see people doing pretty much what they do in the more affluent parts known as suburbia - taking care of their families, meeting their friends, living, loving, arguing, and getting through the day with not much difference in quality from that of their richer neighbours.
For the past few years every Christmas I have volunteered at the CRISIS Open Christmas which is a temporary night shelter run for the homeless over Christmas to ensure that those people who spent the rest of the year sleeping on the streets without even having a decent conversation with other people can have the chance to join the rest of us to have an enjoyable Christmas. I can still remember the first one in 2006 and I remember it clearly for one event which happened - a wedding which took place between Crystal and Tony who have spent years sleeping on the streets of Soho behind Piccadilly Circus where they met, fell in love, and formed their relationship. The wedding was attended by over a hundred guests - all street homeless - and it took place on Christmas Eve in front of a registrar brought in from the local borough to officiate the ceremony. There was food, something to drink, and everything else you would probably find at a high society wedding.
The above is but one example which has helped me form my view that while society may be different, just as every nation is different, regions and even individual cities people are pretty much the same and are living their lives with a similar quality to the rest of us.
All that is different are our circumstances, perspectives and inner nature. I feel it doesn't really take that much, nothing more than a change in our thinking and a bit of effort to translate that thinking into actions.
To me success is measured in the quality of life and how much you are able to appreciate that quality, and the quality of the work you do, the relationships and friendships you form, and everything else.
I think it was Gandhi who once said 'be the change you are seeking in society' and I feel that if we were to accept that human nature is inherently good and exists there in everyone and we take a little more time to care then it won't take long for you to be able to inspire change in others.
Just my 0.02c
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