When we choose to care - Part II

My very first posting on this blog was on the Virginia Tech shooting. I was pointing out that as tragic as the Virginia Tech shooting was, people die every day from gun violence, and those people and those families go unnoticed.

A family who's house is wiped out by hurricane Katrina gets national media coverage, national sympathy, and financial aid. A family who's house is wiped out by a tornado in Oklahoma is ignored.

I see this kind of shotgun sympathy playing out again today with this plan to rescue General Motors. The reason given for saving General Motors is that we'd lose a few hundred thousand jobs if GM falls. Well, we've ALREADY lost several hundred thousand jobs in this economy. Those people were just as devastated, and they hurt our economy just as much. Where is their help? How about saving all of THEM first? Where is the help to the thousands of little businesses that are failing?

Hundreds of thousands of people who work for small companies will get laid off and suffer, and nobody cares when it's all spread out. But if you work for one giant company, then you are in luck, because that's a much more convenient way to package our sympathy and attention!

If you made responsible choices but still lost a home to foreclosure in 2007, you can just go to hell for all we care. But if you made irresponsible choices and you are losing a home to foreclosure in 2008, hang in there, because help is coming!

The message is VERY clear: Do what everyone else does, move to the most populous cities, work for the largest corporations, join the most popular churches and worship the biggest God! Pay close attention to your neighbors and buy what they buy. Listen to the television for all your advice. Betray yourself for your new homogenized identity. There is safety and power in numbers. This is why the Baby Boomers rule the world!

I understand how this happens, and I know that human beings are more effective when they can focus on fewer things at once. But I'm always disappointed when sheep-like behavior is rewarded while being different makes you invisible.



Vistaluna: A woodchuck in sheep's clothing since 1969!