Are We Truly Incapable of Shame?
This week, a video from Obama’s US Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, went viral. In it, she addressed the UN Security Council and called out Syria, Russia and Iran, in particular, for their continued commitment to exterminating the civilian residents of Aleppo, Syria. Aleppo has been under siege and attack since 2012, along with other conflict areas in Syria, which have been ground zero in a supposed ‘civil war’ in Syria.
It’s not civil war, it’s ethnic cleansing of minority populations. It’s genocide pure and simple, perpetrated by a variety of foreign militaries and militias who are telling the world they are stamping out terrorism or rebellion. That is the catch-phrase widely used as an excuse to perpetrate violence against peoples who don’t fit the desired mold. And, as the above graphic illustrates, genocide is a process, and a huge part of the world is somewhere in that process. For those in developed countries, denial is what is encouraged, because perpetrators don’t want to be held accountable. It’s hard to accept, but it’s true.
As a veteran and a parent, this hits me particularly hard. At the green age of 17, I swore to uphold, among other things, the Geneva Conventions. They originated in 1864, following the U.S. Civil War, then renegotiated in the aftermath of WWII, as we were collectively stunned by the atrocities committed, including the Holocaust. They outline protections for both civilians and combatants:
The Geneva Conventions extensively defined the basic rights of wartime prisoners (civilians and military personnel); established protections for the wounded and sick; and established protections for the civilians in and around a war-zone.
In short, they are meant to preserve and protect our humanity in times of conflict. And yet, they are being widely violated with little to no accountability. The U.S. is in denial because of centuries of its own human rights violations, too numerous to count. But let’s not blame individuals — it’s a problem of culture.
I feel ashamed of our culture, which as Terence McKenna said, has gone sterile and dead. We need to, as a culture, commit to truth, justice, transparency, humanitarian values, and fairness. I do a lot to support these causes, but I know I don’t do enough. About half a million people have reportedly died in Syria these last 5 years, many under bombardment from forces who claim they are attacking ‘terrorists’ or ‘rebels’. There may be such people in those places, but the majority of those in the cross fire are civilians, many of whom are women and children. Scenes like this are being played out across the world, in the Sudan, the Congo, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Nigeria, Yemen, and many others. Scenes of apocalyptic terror so horrendous that most of the images never make it out. Scenes just like Rwanda, Bosnia, Nanking, Hitler’s Europe, and Japan when the US annihilated them. Humanitarian disasters of unfathomable proportions. And those are just the things that are widely known about. Things we swore will never be forgotten. and will never happen again. But they do, in fact it never really stops.
What I find so frustrating is the culture of denial we cocoon ourselves in. As a culture, I think we need to feel ashamed. Yes, I insulate myself, too, even though I care very much. We turn our eyes away because these things are too painful. Denial is a survival tactic in a world that is so incomprehensible. Their problems don’t need to affect us. We can avoid secondary stress and trauma. We bury our heads in the sand, giving a range of excuses for why we must not act, even as individuals. Most of us don’t stand up, or at least stand with, those who are living in absolute hell on our planet.
Even those who escape these hells end up displaced, which is why we are dealing with a refugee crisis on this planet bigger than ever before. There are also tens of thousands of people, many women and children, dying each day from hunger, lack of water, preventable disease, and the effects of the modern slave trade and sexual violence. There are other epidemics, too: human trafficking, misery-level labor, domestic and intimate partner violence, child marriage, corporate exploitation of people and resources, raping the planet. Food, water, torture, and sexual violence used as weapons of war. The list goes on and on, and many of these problems are on our very own doorstep, like hate crimes and widespread violence towards minorities, women, and children.
Most of us choose to do nothing but squeeze our eyes even more tightly closed. I used to do this, too. I’m an idealist. It is too painful. We feel powerless. It is simply too depressing to contemplate. It’s all happening in far away places. It’s someone else’s job to deal with these intractable problems. So we compensate with our beliefs about who needs our attention and help and who does not, as well as what change our tiny efforts can possibly bring. These are myths that we tell ourselves:
- Those people are different from us. They believe different things, have different spiritual beliefs, live in different cultures, have a wide array of skin color, might be rebels or terrorists, or, God forbid, Muslims, Blacks, or Native Americans, and are not relevant to our daily lives. But, all humans are the same in the ways that matter most: we love the same, we fear the same, we mourn and grieve the same, especially when we are parents or grandparents ourselves, and we feel excruciating pain the same. The horrific tragedies, indeed genocides and ethnic ‘cleansings’, that have befallen so many of our global brothers and sisters, seem so far away from our relatively comfortable lives. Those people need to deal with their own problems while we deal with ours. We have many, many problems and very busy lives; we can’t take anymore on.
- There is really nothing we can do. The powers that be are the ones to attend to these problems, and we must wait for them to do so. But we have power, too. Our glorious Internet makes many things possible, things that were inconceivable years ago. We can stand in solidarity, at the very least, with those who are suffering. Solidarity says ‘we see you, we hear you, we care about you’. We can amplify their voices, we can show them we are listening. We can do what we can to carry their voices to the bastions of power, those who can do something in those places. Imagine if it were us. We would cry out, too, and would suffer all the more if no one appeared to care.
- It doesn’t matter to me, my family, or my life. Anyone who is paying attention knows that there is a worldwide trend towards tyranny and extremism in progress. Many of us are shocked to see what is happening in our own countries, but we know, or hope, that things will never get as bad as they are in other places. But tyranny is a slippery slope. Here in the U.S., there is a freight-train of tyranny barreling towards us, and denial and that sense of powerlessness are rife. But we know the signs, and we need to rise up and fight for what we cherish.
- There are professionals working on this stuff. There are, but their efforts can be assisted and amplified by us. Yes, we can donate to these causes, but there are many other things we can also do. Paying attention matters, as does thinking about how we can inform others. We also need to help humanitarian efforts by at least promoting the work that they do. They need donations, yes, but more importantly, they need eyeballs and people willing to carry the torches they light.
- It’s foolish or illogical to care. The tenets of capitalism rule our worldview, and we frequently run cost-benefit analyses when we decide what to care about. To many it makes no sense to devote effort or money to pointless endeavors. People die all the time. People suffer all the time. Bad things happen to good people. Life isn’t fair. This is the world we live in. There’s nothing we can do.
I don’t believe these things anymore. When I see those parents, the children, those who love one another so desperately, all I see is how we are all the same. What would you do if you had to choose the rape and murder of yourself and your children over possibly killing them and you yourself? Most of us, thankfully, have never had to make those kinds of choices, and hopefully never will. But day in and day out, these are the sorts of realities loving, caring, wonderful people are subjected to.
In the end, what we remember is not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. — Dr. Martin Luther King
What can we do?
Seek out the real news. It’s not always where you expect. Following certain hashtags (#StandWithAleppo, #NoDAPL, #TheResistance, #BlackLivesMatter, etc.) on Twitter is one way to stay abreast of what is actually going on. The usual news outlets do not widely cover these atrocities. Many are corporate or government mouth pieces. In fact, most mainstream media outlets have been taken over by corporate interests. There are information wars going on all the time, using spin, rhetoric, disinformation, and propaganda to tell us what we need to focus on. But the news is out there, in alternative media and on social media, and even on radio. Many of these voices are on the ground, BEGGING us to listen. We need to listen. If you can’t figure out what is going on, try following the money. Many of these atrocities are being committed in the name of economic gain, access to resources like oil or minerals, or simply wanting to take over new territory for expansion.
Don’t believe anyone who tries to tell you this is fake news. It’s not. The fake news is the news that tries to tell you to look away. There is nothing to see, go about your business. Those people deserve it. There is nothing anyone can do. This makes us feel better, which the power-hungry know. We are given sanction not to care, because they tell us there is no problem, or that these civilians somehow brought this on themselves. It’s not true. Critical thinking and discernment are key — try to think about what agenda the voices who try to silence discourse are adhering to.
We need to share the stories we find. I also struggle with this, as my social media followers are a combination of professional and personal connections. Many of them might not share my political views. They might become uncomfortable if I subject them to not-so-happy stories all the time. Depravity makes us uncomfortable, and so much of this is so hard to watch. So I filter, according to my audiences. So much of the real news thrives in an echo chamber. I feel like it is my responsibility to get the news out and inspire people to do whatever small things they can.
We need to seek out and amplify individual voices. They need to know we care and others need to understand that these are real people experiencing armageddon. Likes, retweets, shares, etc. really help, as does our individual commentary. Please don’t be afraid to express your solidarity with your clicks. It goes a long way.
Donate to humanitarian causes, if we can, or at least sign and share petitions and participate in protest efforts. Petitions seem to help — anyone can also start one. Sometimes the petitions are the best ways to get world leaders and corporate authorities to change their ways.
Pay attention to the erosion of rights to protest and free speech. Tyrannical regimes don’t want these voices to get out. They stamp out basic human rights allowing for resistance. They imprison or kill journalists, academics, dissenters, and artists who tell it like it is. But we need those voices.
I have an expression: don’t waste their pain. Beaming our light into these dark places helps. We owe it to them to amplify their voices and show them they are loved. Are you with me?
Update — August 2017:
As a military veteran and pacifist, the constant mongering for endless war is deeply upsetting. We won’t change our world until we give up war and violence. I wrote this piece a few months ago. Trump;s loyalty to say, the Saudis, leads to policies that are genocidal in nature — we are supplying the weapons that are being used to commit genocide in places like Syria and Yemen. Trump and CO. own stocks in military defense companies like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. The war machine is profitable and that’s why they continue. Russia and Israel are also complicit. Their goals? More real estate. More access to resources, minerals (which is why the Afghan war continues to escalate), and oil. And remember that Trump is a real estate guy, too.
About Lisa Galarneau, Ph.D: I am a socio-cultural anthropologist, futurist, US Army veteran, and mother. If you are interested in these topics, please also read Anthropology of the Future. And if you want to do more, ask me what you can do.
This article is the first in a series about what we all can do to change our world. Please check back and please, please share.
