I wrote this over a year ago, after watching the morning news covering a terrorist attack in Mumbai
I don’t get it
Whatever their cause, whatever their goals…
How does killing or injuring other people become an appropriate or acceptable action?!
How do they justify that?
I can only think these people must be disconnected from reality. How do you not recognise that there is another person you’re hurting…
There is supposed to be a development stage for people as we grow up - at some point we develop empathy, we realise that when we do something it actually has affects on other people, or more to the point: we realise thats there IS actually another person over there. That like us they can feel things.
The world becomes less about us as we realise we are not the only one who can feel.
How do some people miss this? or forget it? and end up treating a whole section of the world population as people and another section as thought they’re not people?
It seems like this is tied to an illusion of seperation that we all have (to varying degrees): different countries, cities, families, businesses, teams, etc.
We talk about growing the economy of a country and think about the factors in those decisions based on what’s best for the country (or insert some other group / decision here).
We forget to account for the effects on other countries.
The borders are all artificial anyway - we’re all one people.
It is one planet.
Even seperating humans from animals and nature… life is life.. we should be looking after all of it.
I’m not saying anyone should give up everything for another person… that serves neither person. But sometimes we could give up something for the good of another. Not because we have some self interest, not as a compromise, but just because it helps someone else, because it pains us to see someone else suffer.
(and in the end, that other is us)