Revolutions

There are questions that inspire, that make individuals strive to seek and attain knowledge and answers for the betterment of mankind. And then there are questions that hurt, that no one wants to ask because the answers don't exist or quite simply break your heart. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do bad things happen at all? How do people reach the point where they can injure and/or take another's life without feeling the slightest hint of remorse?

We are all the products of our environment. There is no escaping that truth, as much as I hate to side with the behaviorists, who have too limited and pessimistic an outlook for my tastes. It is hard to argue with results, however. Still, those products are not identical. Two people can be raised in similar circumstances but one decides to turn to crime while the other chooses not to. Human will can make a difference. Genetics are an even stickier issue and offer a far more grim and confining view of mankind. Do genes determine behavior? There are many who would say yes. The dividing line is drawn by the debate about consciousness; behaviorists, as well as proponents of biological theories all stress emphasis on an overt, observable science whereas others maintain that the hidden and formless consciousness plays a large role.

Does it matter? When applied to real life, real problems, do any of the debates make a difference? Sometimes it feels like people spend so much time arguing about causal factors that they become immune to the actual results. Murder. Hatred. Jealousy. Greed. Anger. Violence. These are words that carry a wealth of emotional and cognitive connotations, both causal and responsive, but there seems to be an apathetic response from those whose business it is to study and use them. Statistics are both a curse and a blessing. The human mind can become deaf, dumb, and blind to numbers if constantly shown or presented with them. It seems like a catch 22 of sorts.

I'm just as guilty. The fact that I have thin skin when it comes to others' pain doesn't change that. What will it take, I wonder, to open people's eyes to what is going on around them. More importantly, what will it take to make them contemplate a future that extends beyond the next few weeks, to years down the road when the consequences of our actions will finally start to sink in? I do not want to live in or raise a family in a society, no, a world, that at best, ambivalent, but mostly uncaring about what will happen to future generations. What ever happened to Tom Paine in America? Has he died in the hearts of her citizens or just been silenced, ignored?

I want to stand for something. More importantly, I want to stand for those around me, those that I care for, as well as those who share this world with me and thus are also of importance. I admit to having a hero complex. But isn't it about time that we all started urging action rather than waiting for someone else to come to the rescue? It just takes a few people and the right atmosphere, and I say the time is ripe for change. Will it be me? I am sad to say I don't know. But I know this: I won't ever abide with being willingly and/or knowingly uninformed and I will always support and encourage those who are willing to try to make a difference. Revolutions don't start on the battlefield. They start in the hearts and minds of the people and are translated into poems and stories, as well as other media. If you want to know a people, read the stories they wrote, the poems they composed, the songs they sang. I am starting to know myself, to see where I fit in the grand scheme of things. My life makes all and none the difference. And I pray that everyone else realizes the same, so that we can wake up before it is too late.