Times Like These

I've covered many topics since I started writing this blog nearly 13 months ago. Occasionally I'll comment on a news story but I usually try to avoid sounding like a Law & Order retread so I stick to topical items. It would be easy to write articles that simply reacted to what was happening in the world because there is always something either morbidly interesting, gloriously triumphant, or some sort of middle ground that catches our attention. We are often outraged, encouraged, worried, and hopeful several times a day.

My content is sometimes inspired by what's being shouted incessantly at me by the news but I try to block it out so I can come to my own conclusions. Today I am epically failing at this. I recently read an article about a group of Canadian teenagers who assaulted and urinated on a homeless man in Winnipeg. I don't really know what to say about this but would love to hear from anyone in the "everything happens for a reason" camp. I know we use that phrase a lot and I understand the logic because it helps us examine an often horrific situation and try to find something good to extract from it.

But I just don't agree with it. It allows too many people to avoid too much responsibility.

This man did nothing to warrant such a vile attack. His only crime was being homeless in the wrong place at the wrong time. I can't even comment on his assailants because their behavior is so repugnant that anything I would write would just be another overused cliche that does not accurately capture the true evil embodied in their soul. I won't waste another keystroke on them.

There has been so much tragedy lately. As a student of history, I can attest that we have been bullying, killing, dehumanizing, and hurting each other since the dawn of time. The only difference now is that we are confronted with these themes on an hourly basis. We become desensitized and unmoved by things that might have induced nausea just a few years ago. I'm not blaming social media for this because there are some amazing benefits to knowing what your best friend in third grade ate for breakfast two time zones away. Technology is not usually the problem as much as the people creating it.

I wish I had some great advice or wisdom to dispense but right now I just want to believe that we can get back to a place where things like this bother us to the point that we want to do something about it. Lately I've had a lot more questions than answers. This transcends the issue of homelessness and strikes directly at the core of what it means to be human... humane. How we treat one another is crucial to he survival of this  planet. Fortunately, for every deplorable act that scrawls across the news ticker, there are multiple acts of kindness and benevolence. Maybe I'm just rationalizing things. Perhaps I am choosing to look for the good in the world.

I'm not quite ready to give up and I hope you are with me. How can we affect change?