This is just speculation, but I think one of the reasons we don’t really follow the conflicts of what’s going on in the world is because it’s complicated and foreign to us. You see, we, as a society, like the good guys versus the bad guys narratives. We want the Humans vs. the Cylons, Harry vs. Voldermort, the survivors vs. the zombies. We can deal with minor intricacies, but we love the know the heroes to root for and the villains to boo and when new “stories” don’t fit that structure, we just ignore them because this good-versus-evil ideal is so integrated into our understanding that we won’t abandon it. So it’s easy to care about invaded Ukraine vs. invading Russia, protesters in Tehrir Square fighting for democracy vs. the brutal, totalitarian President Mubarak, but when it gets more complicated, it barely holds popular interest. But we can’t just ignore the stories that don’t fit our understanding of war and we shouldn’t try to mold these conflicts to make them fit our preconceived notions of humanity. We should strive to make room for the “stories” of the world as we find them, and instances such as the Gaza conflict, the Central African Republic, the Pakistani extremists, and many more current conflicts are reminders that war is more than just Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader, good vs. evil. I understand that because it falls into my line of work, I am more aware of some current events that barely make the headlines; I don’t express this to condemn in anyway and I genuinely feel that news is personal to everyone and we don’t always have to be concern with everything that’s happening in the world. However, in the end, we are all affected and isolation from global concerns is not an option. Happy Wednesday :)
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 10:54:35 +0000
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