Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Have we lost sight of our humanity?

I apologize for the somewhat off-topic post, but I couldn't get this subject off my mind. Lately, I've had to deal with the loss of a lot of lives I considered important to me, as well as the knowledge that there are those who are important to me who are sick and may not make it much longer.

I saw a video of a squirrel protecting its deceased loved one from a pack of crows trying to pick away at the body, posted below, and it made think of another recent video, of more than twenty people walking past a dying homeless man, who had been stabbed while saving someone's life. I won't post the second, because it sickens me, but it can be found here.



Contrasting the two, it makes me wonder just what humans are here for. All too many of us have lost sight of the preciousness of life, of how beautiful and terrible it can be, and seemingly have no respect for anyone but themselves or their very-close consorts. Of course, this isn't universally true, but there are entire ideologies and processes of thought out there not only meant to condone such ignorance and lack of respect, but embrace it. I can't understand those who have lost sight of the importance of life and humanity.

No one can live forever and often we find ourselves with no choice but to take life (for example, we have to eat), but we must treat all life with dignity and remember that all life is precious, be it the dying homeless man on the street, or the desperate squirrel trying to fend off those who would consume its friend or children. There's always the temptation to look away from pain and suffering, and there's always a built-in self interest that's a biological component of life, but we can have a greater consciousness that recognizes everything else that's going on around us and refuse to give into apathy, unhealthy greed or ignorance.

I firmly believe that we are all here to do good. We have the ability to make the world a better place, if we can remember this world we live in is precious and stop trying to destroy it. One secret in my life is that I'm not political because I enjoy politics, per say; I get involved in politics and political causes because its a rare opportunity to support candidates who would improve things over the way they are now. I want to live in a world where we ensure there's equal opportunity for all, where we try to leave the earth in a better condition than how we found it and where everyone and everything is treated with dignity and respect, at least as much as we can afford to give, which is a great deal more than what we're giving now.

No comments:

About Ryan's Take