I think people sometimes fear that in offering sympathy or understanding, what they are really offering is an opportunity, an opening for those to whom it is offered, to use it to hurt or exploit them. To overcome this fear is the very definition of both vulnerability and courage. When you respond to the suffering and oppression of others by reminding them that you also suffer in some way unjustly, you arent sympathizing. You arent being fair. You are being selfish. Especially when the truth of the imbalance is painfully clear in every way, and that imbalance is tipped in your favor. Some are born into this world, destined to begin life in the role of the villain. The outsider. They are exposed to this before they can begin even to understand the effects of this. Do not underestimate the damage this does, the pain it causes and how immense an obstacle it is to overcome. If you think you suffer from injustices and socially imposed limitations, then you should understand this burden. The appropriate reaction is solidarity. Period. To go about promoting the false narrative that life is equally unfair, or that the imbalances that exist are solely the consequences of an individuals actions and choices is shameful and naive. It is sublimated racism, and it is sinister by way of its slippery and self righteous logic. If you arent deeply saddened by this situation I think some serious self reflection is in order.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 23:25:31 +0000