This is very “out of the blue,” but while reading an article on disappearances in other countries, I was reminded of the fact that we, the country of Canada, are currently at war. This is a fact that many of us often forget. It is so very easy to take advantage of our privilege. We are able to sit comfortably at home watching TV or working on the computer while soldiers are fighting our wars overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq.
These are countries where hundreds of innocent civilians are killed every week due to the horrible externalities of politics. While many of us worry ourselves over menial things such as fashion and celebrity gossip, the majority of human beings have much larger issues to worry about. Many are faced with the day-to-day scourge of hunger or the reality that they may be killed while walking down the street tomorrow.
We apply terms such as “collateral damage” to ease our minds about the mass killing of the innocent, we stay tuned to meaningless television shows and media to keep ourselves from focusing on the true issues of this world. We do whatever we can to sanitize our image of what is really going on.
Estimates of civilian casualties (as if such things are “casual”) in Iraq have reached approximately 55-100,000 people (IBC, BBC). Just take a moment to comprehend how many people that is, while remembering that this is a war which we are contributing to. We are extremely and unjustifiably privileged to be involved in a war that does not effect us in our own communities as it does others.
If nothing else, remember that there are many issues in the world that we are too easily ignoring by turning to the comfort of our social and material security blankets. Unfortunately, our ignorance is catching up with us as these issues continue to boil erupt. 9/11 was supposed to be a wakeup call for us to pay attention to the injustices of the world, but we seem to have pushed the “sleep” button. What will it take for us to pay more attention to what is really happening in the world? We need to start looking outside the box.
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5 Comments
PB…
You are right — civilian deaths are not casual. And while I can’t think of the person who said this, it still applies: “An American life will not receive the same treatment as 10 British lives. Nor will it receive the same treatment as 100 French lives, or the lives of 10,000 Indians.” As for the statistic of 55K-100K Iraqi civilians dead… I don’t even know what to make of this. If it’s even close to being the truth, we don’t simply have blood-stained hands–we are bathing in it.
Maybe we need to actually see people as human first.
Waohhhh…
“U should re-read your blog. Just a little extreme…in a pointing finger kind of
way. U need to reach out and teach, not criticize but do. Read the blog right
above it. Starts to sound a little hypercritical. Good advise but needs to be
better communicated. Don’t stop, just don’t judgeâ€
I want to make sure everyone knows this article is by no means a judgment. We are all guilty of ignoring what’s going on in the world at one point or another. The article was only meant to remind people of how lucky we are to live in a privileged country where we can be at war, yet not face the same dangers on our homeland as other innocent civilians do.
As for the article above it (about getting a Wii), I find that people too often see in binary terms. They think that just because I think progressively, that means that I must act that way in every aspect of my life. Just because I believe in helping the environment doesn’t mean I should start hugging trees, live in a hut, and walk everywhere. In the same way, just because I think we too often indulge in material goods, that doesn’t mean we should give up all of our luxuries. Things aren’t black and white and it is possible to think in a socially progressive manner and own a Wii at the same time; without having to turn into a hippie.
Now that’s what I’m talkin about….
RK…
I agree, and I think your article outlines it perfectly. By subjugating human beings into abstract figures, we can treat them in any number of horrible ways without giving it a second thought.