Last month I wrote a couple posts about my thoughts on the incomprehensible suffering of humankind, our duty to the other humans of the world, and my shifting thoughts on my own involvement and guilt. Here and here.
I’ve pulled myself very much from the constant (and very manipulative) flow of enraging media and it has given me some clarity and breathing room in my own life and mind. My mind feels quieter. I feel happier. I still know that there is immense suffering, I still take a look at AP News a couple times a week to see what’s going on, but I don’t let myself be swallowed by media anymore.
I can’t stop thinking about duty and obligation and responsibility and what it actually means to be a part of the human tribe and what we should be doing as human beings.
When I was younger, I wanted to devote my life to charity. I very distinctly remember the day I learned that there were entire portions of the globe where people were impoverished and didn’t have food to eat. This was mind-boggling and shocking for someone living in a suburban American home who always got dinner. How was this possible? I didn’t live in excessive abundance, but surely we could scrape a little off our plate to feed someone else?
My plan was to start a charity and change the world. Even well into my twenties, I planned to donate any extra money to charity so I could help those in need. Unfortunately, I came to discover that’s not how the world works. My $3 monthly donation to whatever random charity is not going to move the needle on human suffering when there are entire countries with completely destabilized governments, government policies that encourage worker exploitation, and systemic oppression that keeps people from access to education, jobs, housing, etc. etc. etc. (not to mention that fact that you MUST have a job to survive and there are fewer well-paying jobs than there are people on earth, so someone is always going to lose out. It’s baked into the system.) This is system-level poverty that requires system-level solutions. In other words, the universe is a big mishmash of chaos, and many people have organized the chaos in a way that enriches themselves by oppressing others, because the crazy thing is that we have enough on this planet for everyone to live a good life, but it would require a small number of people to live at the level of the rest of us, and they aren’t willing to do that of their own volition, and no one has the heart to make them do it.
I’m a nobody. I’ve lived near the poverty line most of my adult life, and I’m going to get out of it soon thanks to my union apprenticeship and our collectively bargained wage. People power!
Being that I’m a nobody with little means, what am I expected to give back to the world?
I think the things I am obligated to do are to sacrifice my time and means to raise my daughter up to be a socially and ecologically conscious human being. That’s a lot of what I do. I think I’m obligated to help my union stay strong and support the other apprentices and my union brothers, sisters, and niblings. I think I’m obligated to take care of the planet as best I can—use its resources wisely, keep it clean, support good ag practices by buying produce from local farms. I think I’m obligated to speak up when I see hate and teach people by word and example how to be empathetic and treat others kindly. I think I’m obligated to vote with my conscious, not just in elections but also with my dollars. (You will never get another cent out of me, Starbucks!)
That’s pretty much all I have to give as far as money and time and ability. Probably as much as I’ll ever have.
Someone who has more means than me—money, political power, and influence—would have more asked of them. Bringing us back to the fact that there’s enough to go around, but not if a few people hoard it all.
I wish I had answers. I wish I had the power to fix it. I think I’d do a better job than those guys, but I’m not an orator, I’m not one for the spotlight, I’d frankly suck as a politician. I have too many hot takes and radical views and my morality is very black and white. It’s hard for me to compromise on things like walking across the aisle so we can come to the middle and bomb slightly less of Iran instead of the whole thing.
What a mess we’re in.
I don’t know. I’m trying my best. I bet you’re trying your best, too. I wish my best could be better, but it’s not. I’ll just keep cleaning out the city creek, reading books to my daughter, and mending my clothes instead of throwing them in the trash.