Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Living in the land of awareness.

I live in the land of awareness - and it's driving me nuts. I read the Times everyday. I'm up on the situation in Darfar (as per Kristof) and child prosititution (as per Herbert). I'm up on politics (somewhat) via Media Needle, Amy Goodman, and my husband. But, one doesn't need to read, talk, or look at the internet to see the problem. The other day, I went to pick my son up from school and saw the janitor throw out an enormous amount of food.

The problem with all this is that I'm at a loss of what to do about any of it. There seems so much bad stuff in the world - one doesn't even know where to begin. I would guess though, that awareness is the first step.

When did America become the Land of Apathy? We complain so much, and yet we've got it so much better than everyone else. We all have clean drinking water and are not being chased by the janjaweed for starters.

I shouldn't be so bossy. But, join me. Look around.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awareness is a start. Perhaps that we haven't solved every problem, or can't even hold all of them in our heads at one time isn't the same as being apathetic. One can do more than one can feel.

Crafty Green Poet said...

Awareness is a good first step. Helping to make others aware. Trying to change the way you live your own life. But its tough. So many people aren't aware and sometimes it seems that nothing any of us would do would make a difference.

Jennifer Bartlett said...

I know. The problem is that there is just too much. I think we can all pick a topic and run with it. I know people who are vegans, people who teach inner-city school kids, people who volunteer or donate lots of money. I think if we start by everyone doing ONE thing - the world will begin to come together.