OK, I've been MIA for quite some time, I know. Been out to Utah, Colorado, Kansas and Missouri since I last posted, killed a computer, bought a computer, was shoveled a heavier workload at the job, and finally got internet reconnected. Excuses excuses. Please accept this meager post, with the aims of stoking the fires and getting back to work. Thanks all.
I had a discussion with a friend last night about... truthfully, I don't remember what, but somehow the topic of whaling came up. He explained to me that he didn't care what happened to whales, because the issue didn't directly impact him, and what has a whale ever done for him anyways? I pointed out that the whaling industry was integral to building several industries and markets in its heyday, be it shipbuilding, foundries, undergarments or perfume, but that's neither here nor there. I was rather surprised at his flippant attitude in dismissing the issue because it wasn't a "direct impact" on his daily life. A direct impact? What is that, exactly?
I'm going to submit that everything impacts you. When our neighbors cannot pay their mortgages, does it not affect you? Does the prospect of abandoned homes, a gutted neighborhood and a hollowed-out community sound appealing? When graduation rates go down, the available pool of labor shrinks, and either the local economy shrinks with it or imports labor from elsewhere. What does this mean for your town? You can't just tighten up a cordon around your life and ignore things because they are not in-your-face issues. Problems, much like opportunities, are never contained in a little sphere, only touching those that deal with them directly. Think of them as gases, following the winds, wafting over everything they come across, leaving a residue or a smell to remember them by, be it poisonous or pleasing.
It's not a big deal for me if you are pro- or anti- something; we're all entitled to our opinions and our conceptions of the world we want to live in. The point of contention for me is taking up an issue based on how heavily it directly impacts you. Naturally, we will feel most passionate about issues that we deal with daily, much as we care much more for our family than the wellbeing of some stranger on the street. This is unavoidable, and if you weren't like this, I'd say you were a little off in the head. But here is the question- does it really not affect you? When you write off some pressing social issue, be it schools, public safety, healthcare, any of the non-sexy causes that are paid lip-service by politicians, are you really insulated from the impacts? What is the standard of 'impact?'
As much as we want to trumpet the ideal of total individuality, that someone else's problems are never our own, we cannot ignore what happens in our circles of family, friends and community. Generally speaking, we know problems when we see them, and know that we want to dispose of them. We need to have a hope for the world, and work towards achieving it, be it through doing our jobs, raising our families, voting, getting involved in the community, or volunteering. My conception of the world is an ideal, I'll be the first to tell you, but it is definitely worth working and fighting for. It's based on the idea that if you do wrong by my friend, my neighbor, my community, you do wrong by me, because we're all in this together. Everything is an impact. It all needs to be addressed.
What does your ideal world look like? Inquiring minds want to know, or to at least raise the question in your heads, for you to chew on. Have at it.
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