Yeah I said it. I can really care less about Darfur. As a matter of fact I can care less about Africa ( with the exception of Zimbabwe ..don’t ask) and any other damn country not named United States of America…..
” Oh how dare you not care about your fellow man and all their issues?”
I will definitely answer that question, but let me start by telling you a story …..
A couple of days ago a close friend of minds started going through something I can only explain as a nightmare come true.. The father of her child was diagnosed with H.I.V, and doesn’t have long to live due to the fact that he has contracted bronchitis, and has full blown AIDS…….Obviously three things went through her mind.
1. Does she have it
2. Does her child have it
3. How will her child survive without her
Now keep in mind, due to the circumstances of their relationship there is a very slim chance that either her or her child has the deadly disease. … “What’s your point javi?” ok ok I will get there just continue reading………….
Now ever so often her son’s grandmother would call explaining how bad the child’s father is doing. Telling her she should call him….. This would very much annoy her. Why? Will she has herself and her child to worry about. She needs to be confident that their lives are not in danger.. And once she is 100% in the clear she can be supportive if she so wishes, till then she has to be selfish… do you blame her?
Soo what does this story have to do with me saying “I can care less about Darfur, Burma, and other charity of the month locations”……. Everything.
How can we really expect to help these places when we on our own downward slope…. We owe trillions of dollars.. The dollar is losing value… we are fighting a war against an ideology…..
Yes the U.S is still the richest and most powerful country in the world… but we are slowly eroding from the inside out……
Why is it that we have so many issues internally? yet some of us can only think about what is happening outside our borders…. Don’t you know the more we spend out there the less we have in here….. In no way am I saying that we all (no matter what I still won’t care) should shut ourselves off forever. I am simply saying if the doctor is sick shouldn’t that doctor heal him/herself before working on dying patients.
javi
Posts
16 comments:
This was a very interesting entry. I like how you tied in the personal story with the broader issue. You make a very good point about this false sense of responsibility that we are plagued with. It's not entirely false though. Many of the predicaments that we find ourselves in now (such as taking out despotic rulers of oil-rich countries) have been created, in part, by our own previous actions. I'm not saying that Darfur is somehow America's fault. I honestly don't know enough about the situation to make a call on that one way or the other. But at the same time, trying to seemingly unlimited problems with very limited resources can only end badly. Just as your average citizen has some charities that they support, perhaps countries should have the same. The emphasis here is on some charities, not all. But spending all our energies on fixing others' problems and then expecting them to return the favor when we need it is terribly naive in my opinion. Like you said, fix ourselves before we try to fix others. The situation we are currently in is like someone who can't swim trying to save people from drowning. It just won't work.
Again, great article. Keep up the good work!
I certainly do not agree with regarding Darfur. Because you see, what happens else where effects us here in the U.S. What happens in Darfur is going on in the U.S. inner city youths killing each other, many dying of AIDS, living in poverty and it seems that no one seems to care. The same has happened in Darfur. Much like the blacks in the U.S. and elsewhere who were used by European nations and America to progress their nation(s) those in Darfur (and other African countries) were left to die off. Be it poverty or build so much hatred towards themselves that they would turn against each other; hence Darfur. And no, the doctor cannot heal himself before he heals anybody else, that's not his job, he too must seek a doctor. Sometimes it is by looking at the horrid circumstance of others that we are able to pull ourselves out of our own. Referring back to the bible story of Cain and Abel; God asked Cain "where is your brother", he responded "Am I my brother's keeper". I think God was upset with Cain, not for killing his brother, but for his arrogance and he feeling righted in doing so. Though you may not, like Cain literally kill those in Darfur, your words are doing just that. And frankly my friend "calamity makes cousins of us all", maybe not today, but tomorrow so watch out who you dismiss, for you might need the empathy granted to Darfur to redeem you one day.
Last comment left by VAd
Thanks Enoch for your insightful comment........ America is definitely responsible for many problems in this world... the thing is some of these very problems have been caused by this sense of “we need to baby-sit the world"
I can’t think of any world power who has given more money and humanitarian aid then the U.S... The thing is sometimes we just add fuel to an existing fire by getting involved.
For the man/women who left the anonymous comment:
I think you need to read over this post. You talk about how America is facing the same problems as Darfur whether it be drugs, aids, poverty, etc.... and your right. But the thing is, that is the point. We are both facing the same damn problem. How the hell are we supposed to be fixing their problem if we can't fix our own. That is like the blind leading a blind man with no legs. I am not saying that we should not help other countries, One hand help the other, nor am I saying that I agree or diagree with this post. It's just common sense.
You talk about Cain and Able, but did not God also say dont build your house on sand? Fix yours before you fix others. Also you stated that a doctor could not heal him/ herself cause it is not his job and that he/she should seek another for help. But is that not the doctor healing himself? Please dont take this as me knocking your oppinion, everybody is entitled to their own. But I truely believe that you should look over the post and read over your comment. It's sounds like your contradicting yourself.
To Shyne. I hear what you are saying, and no I did not contradict myself. I was merely saying that, to say that the problems that you don't care about what happens in Darfur is not right. There's a difference of taking care of self, and taking care of home, but there's also responsibility. Essentially we are keepers of each other. You
re·spon·si·ble
1 a: liable to be called on to answer b (1): liable to be called to account as the primary cause, motive, or agent a committee responsible for the job (2): being the cause or explanation mechanical defects were responsible for the accident 2 a: able to answer for one's conduct and obligations
according to this it is not my responsibility.
i do understand the idea of helping your fellow man...so how about you give me your solution to the issues in darfur. and i will tell you why it wont work
javi
sorry i apologize i will give you my opinion on why i think it wont work
My dad and I were talking about this same issue. America likes to play, " Doctor, Healer, Provider, etc" to the whole world......C'mon America, do you think you're God? America needs to repay its debt, stop this cost consuming war against the non exsistant insurgants and start dealing with the internal problems that are causing a decay in the nucle... Read Moreus of the society. Its a big job and its up to the gov't to change. However, it will take a lot of pressure from Americans to accomplish this change. Great article Javz!
I think Chantelle got the essense of what I was trying to say about responsibility. Please read, "How Europe under developed Africa". What I am saying is, what we allow to happen to our neighbors (elsewhere, here) may someday happen to us. In the begining Africans were selling Africans to Europeans, and then Europeans flipped it on them.
Taking care of self, means that you are also taking care of each other. We shouldn't have to wait for the injustice to happen to us for us to know it's wrong, "injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere".
I am not disputing that there are innumerous atrocities occurring around the world. Nor am I saying that these atrocities mean nothing. What I am trying to say…. At this point in time there is absolutely nothing anyone can do to fix these issues……And at the very least the attempt to help will cause an even bigger issue…. Let’s run through a very typical scenario. Shall we? REAF THE REST HERE http://isitcuzimblack.blogspot.com/
I have to admit that your title is a catchy one, but in my opinion, that all it is, a catchy title. I strongly disagree with you . I did appreciate the fact that you injected a personal story and although I empathize with your friends plight, her plight has nothing to do with Dufar in all actuality. Dufar is about the brutality of men and how the west and other more affluent societies, can stand by and choose to look the other way when their fellow human beings are being eliminated. Dufar shows us that when it comes to Africa, policies tend to be different. Dufar makes us look deep inside of us to see " the big elephant" in the room and that elephant is "RACISM". When it comes to African countries or cultures where blacks are the majority, the west do not quickly react to injustice and such. They choose to look the other way and pretend that people are not dying. Perhaps they wish that blacks should go ahead and eliminate themselves. I see a lot of double standards when it comes to how they deal with Africa and how they deal with other countries.
I think it is extremely selfish to live in a world and your only focus is you and yours. Yes, there are plenty of social problems and issues to tackle in America but does that mean you should not care about the world?. The World is part of each of us and to think that the world is about America is extremely selfish.
America is a melting pot and we all came from somewhere, so to dismiss atrocities happening in different part of the world because you have problems yourself is extremely selfish.
We must care about each others. To live about oneself is not a life at all. We all have problems and problems will never go away, it is just a part of life and to dismiss lending a helping hand to others because you have some problems yourself is not what we should do and that is not what life is about .
On a final note America and the west really did not do anything for Dafur because the war continues and one group of people is facing elimination but I bet if it was Israel or another white dominated society, it would be a different story.
Rufie.
First I would like to thank you for adding to this discussion…you do bring up some interesting points… with that said however I feel that you have missed my point.. You do not have to agree with my opinion, but I feel that I must expand on some of my initial thoughts.
In no way am I comparing the issue my friend is facing with the plight in Darfur. I am however using it as a metaphor. In order to create a better understanding of my feelings towards issues, I feel have no direct effect on my life.
Also in no way am I discounting the scope of the problem millions maybe even billons face on a day to day basis….
If I was as passionate about this issue as you are I would want to do everything in my power to help out….. The question I pose is this… how can you help?
As stated in my article I believe in order to help others you must first help yourself. Can a fireman do his job if he is unable to climb a ladder? Can a police man do his job if he can’t be a jerk (just a joke)? You can not help out Darfur or any other place if the infrastructure you need isn’t in place. If you try you will only cause a bigger issue or at the least frustrate yourself to no end. I will ask you to read my response to some of the comments left on this article For a better understanding of what I am trying to say,, here-- http://isitcuzimblack.blogspot.com/2008/07/why-you-so-damn-selfish-javi.html
Again you do not have to agree with me. I just want to be as clear to my readers as humanly possible.
Thank you
javi
I think you mean to say you COULDN'T care less.
Pet peeve of mine,
Interesting entry though.
I think the point is that no matter how bad things are over here, they're worse over there, but I agree that perhaps we have gotten carried away with helping others and neglected our own.
I just read everyones comments and I believe that some of them are rather selfish. I just did a project on Darfur and America doesn't even compare to the economic state that Africa is in. Yes, America has gotton itself into some issues around the world it didn't belong getting invovled in. Darfur is not one of those issues. Darfur is a genocide! Over 400,000 people have died in Darfur and still are; to say you "couldn't care less" is terrible. There are innocent civillians dieing and if you can openly say you do not care then there is something really wrong with that. America needs to help out. America is a large power in this world and by helping out in Darfur we will be setting
examples for other countries tp possibly do the same. America does have problems, but America can help itself and help others at the same time. We can do both if citizens in this country learn to stop thinking of themselves. Get up and do something for your country then. Stop bitching or not caring about the world, it is the only world we have and someone has got take care of it. Maybe that weight must fall on America's shoulders.
How can you say those things? Its amazing how selfish and heartless people are. Yes our economy is in danger, but there is a MAJOR difference between a recession and GENOCIDE! Our dollar is not worth what it use to be and yes that is a big problem that America will have to fix, but we arent facing anything compared to the horrors in Darfur and all over Africa in general. They are human beings just like you! They are being slaughtered and starved to death and all anyone can think about is well it doesnt directly affect me. That is just awful. All I have to say is if our country fell and you and your family and neighbors were being slaughtered for no reason and starved to the point of death, how would you feel if the only countries that had the power to help you were posting blogs about how unimportant you are and how they just DONT CARE. The fact that you don't care about other human beings is a horrible quality to have and some day you will have answer to God for that.
Post a Comment