For the past year, I have lived in a country that is plagued by poverty and infamous for having the world's highest murder rate. I can anticipate a child's begging for my meal scraps when I go into town to eat, and I've been sharply awoken by the sound of gunshots on multiple occasions. I have lived next door to the untouchable drug lord and heard about the murders of the lawyers and police officers who stood up against the wrongdoing. Because I grew up in an idyllic, family-friendly Chicago suburb, it is easy to look around myself and polarize the United States with the developing world. On a more cynical day, I may even criticize Americans for their blissful unawareness of those outside their world. Social awareness has become chic, lately, and I have occasionally found myself falling in with the socially aware bandwagon who touts their privy to the world's condition through "first world problems" memes and tweets.
The past few days have rocked me, though. I got home from school on Friday and heard about Sandy Hook. My heart broke as I read all of the articles I could find, listened to the police statements to the press, and watched the President wipe away tears and pause to compose himself as he addressed the nation. I then watched the barrage of facebook comments ensue, somehow turning this tragedy into a war.
Humanity is so far from perfection, regardless of the country in which you live or the worldview that you use to explain it all. We are all hurting. We are all broken. We are all imperfect. Yes, of course there are different levels and severities of suffering, but it is something that we all deal with. Do not look at these things with the defeatest attitude that, "Well this is shit, so screw it." We need to use tragedies like this as a reminder to love people in whatever way we can. Help who we can. Make change where we can. No, we're not going to stop all the bad things from happening, but for God's sake, don't just resign yourself to its inevitibility, and please don't aggrevate the tragedy with pointless, ill-thought facebook tirades that accomplish nothing. DO something. Even if it is just in your immediate circle of influence, it matters.
But, what do I know? I'm just a 20 something with a laptop.
