I have become comfortably numb...

EoinC

Here's some late night dribblings - If it seems like the pissy rant that it is, drop it and move on.
I've been busy lately (start work at 04:30 - 05:00 / finish work around 19:30 - 21:30 - 7 days / week, with a lot of pleading voices through the day). I have a lot of reference points that should make me sit up and notice shit (I've worked in many poverty / war-stricken places - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Angola, Pukerua Bay...), but I can see that I'm not paying attention.
Today my secretary showed me photo's of a young local child with 80% burns to his body. Later, having a beer at a local bar here in Malaysian Borneo, a VCD of Pink Floyd came on and "comfortably numb" hit home.
I'm more than a little disgusted in myself. I blank out the pain and suffering that I see. I see myself putting other people's suffering into compartments and packing it away.
I, like many of us, get hooked up in pontificating about horseshit. False reports of banning Burkha's in the Netherlands, etc (Sorry, Carrera, but you really do have to stop believing all that mindless hatred crap that you insist on reading) and forget that, amidst all our lefto / righto golden principles, people suffer. People are people, for firk's sake.
I'm more than a little pissed off with myself that I've allowed myself to forget to walk a mile in someone else's shoes. I remember the first lesson I was taught (by someone who remains a great mate) on my way to the Highlands of PNG - Go out and see how other people mow their lawns.
If that's too ethereal, let me break it down - Nearly everybody on this tiny lump of rock that we live on has the same basic ideals and the same basic concerns. 99.9999% of people want to be comfortable. They want a roof over their collective heads, they want food in their bellies, they want their children to have a better life than they did and they want to believe that tomorrow will be a good day.
Unfortunately, many of us, myself included, turn into jaded arseholes who take great delight in pointing out all the faults of the World, and those around us, but offer sweet FA in terms of helping make it a better place. we make token efforts (donations, letters, posts), which make us feel good but...well, again, I'm feeling comfortably numb.
This rant is basically about me being pissed off at having made some assumptions today, based on the crappy download of an expat (at 05:35 this morning) who wasn't aware of the bigger picture, and then my proceeding down a path of undeserved blame, loading on a national who did exactly what he should have in the situation.
We're supposed to get older and wiser - I appear to have just gotten older.
The thing that pisses me off is that, although I later corrected it, comfortably numb seemed an easy place to be.
Any other C.N. old bastards out there? I look (metaphorically, cos' they're 1000' of km's away) at my daughters and hope that they don't allow themselves to become numb like me.

jhuskey

Unless you live in a sheltered life I believe you have to deal with enough crap that eventually you become less aware and concerned in your surroundings.
As far as those that critique, there will always be arm-chair quarterbacks ready to tell how much better things would be if only they had their way.
The bottom line is that people suffer and die and have for millenia before us and will continue to do so as long as humans exist.
We can rant and rave about the condition of the world and how we wish we could change it, but in reality we have very little influence as individuals.

Giving of your time and little pieces of yourself is the greatest gift and the thing we are usually most selfish with.

Remember the old Chinese Taoist story of the farmer,his horse and his son.... am I doing the right thing? Maybe?

Your right though, before you critcize a man you should walk a mile in his shoes.
That way you got a mile head start, and his shoe, and can give him hell.
Sorry just had to end on a humorous note.

__________________
Sobriety is over rated!

Carrera

"If that's too ethereal, let me break it down - Nearly everybody on this tiny lump of rock that we live on has the same basic ideals and the same basic concerns. 99.9999% of people want to be comfortable. They want a roof over their collective heads, they want food in their bellies, they want their children to have a better life than they did and they want to believe that tomorrow will be a good day."

I agree. It would be nice if everyone could live together happily ever after. But in order for that to happen, more has to be done - such as cultural exchange programs between countries and cultures.
The thing is I share this view barriers should be broken down between peoples but I just disagree with the way it is being done. People shouldn't be forced to live together. The first step is to help people understand one another before they try to interact more. Then we might have less wars perhaps but who knows?
As for the burkha thing, just because I don't agree with the dress-code doesn't mean I hate the individual wearing the burkha or would want to see that person living on the streets with no money in the pocket.
As for you paragraph above, maybe that's why I'm more inclined towards neo-communism (capitalism and socialism combined as the best way to beat poverty).
All in all, I agree with you, though.

limerickman

There's a lot of stuff in there, EoinC.
We're all guilty from time to time of not being perceptive enough and putting ourselves first and to hell with everyone else.

Small anecdote coming up but I think it hits the point.
I have a friend working in Sao Paulo in Brazil. he works amongst the poorest of the poor.
This guy comes from one of the wealthiest families in my country.
Anyway, he works away day in day out in what can only be described to be a ghetto.
He told he has struck up a friendship with a 73 year old lady from northern England.
The lady came in to area where he is working in Sao Paulo, one day.
This lady is a grandmother.
My friend is blown away at the generosity of this lady - giving up family etc to live among the poorest of the poor.
This lady works all the hours God sends and there's nothing that she won't do.

My admiration for my friend is based on my cushy life and his tough life.
My friends admiration for this lady is relative to his (my friends) life.
In other words, it is all relative.
Whatever our vocation, husband, mother, father, wife, single person.
Whatever our station in life, rich, poor, moderately wealthy : so long as we try to do the correct thing and not harm others, that is the main thing.

(the grandmother in the ancedote is a Salvation Army volunteer. My friend is
a Jesuit priest).

__________________
.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

EoinC

Thanks, fella's. Last night's ramble was after a particularly crappy day (and a couple of bevvies). I caught myself behaving like some of the people who I do not wish to emulate. The combination of Pink Floyd and Tiger beer got me into a self-reflective rant.
Nice ending, Huskey. It reminds me of a Henry Lawson (great Aussie Balladeer from the 1800's) story that went along the lines of drinking his way for free around New Zealand Pubs by claiming he was a cobbler then, after drinking without paying, running off with everyone's boots so that they couldn't catch up to him.

darkboong

Couple of points.
1) I hate that song. It's too close to the bone, but it makes a valuable point nonetheless.
2) You can improve the world by not doing stuff.

I should expand on 2) a little. Refuse to do stuff that helps perpetuate a situation you don't like. As you pointed out we all tend to go along with stuff that we don't actually approve or agree with, make a point of not doing that.

"Progress depends upon the unreasonable man" - G.B.Shaw.

Point 2) comes about from a combination of my trade and Taoist princinples. As an engineer I frequently see people mucking about with a bit of kit that is working, and breaking it in the process. As a Taoist the basic principle is to take the path of least resistance. This observation and principle are handily summed up by "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Few people are qualified to make a call on whether something is broken or not, but sure as eggs is eggs, for any machine, in any condition, there will be a ton of people out there who think they can improve it.

I ain't comfortable numb as far as poverty and violence goes, it doesn't sound like you are either EoinC. I am heartened to see that plenty of other folks feel the same way. The good things in life are a result of co-operation and communication, that is something I'm seeing more of as time goes by which is a good thing.

The challenge we face today is the same one our ancestors have faced : There are a small bunch of sociopaths with *far* too much destruction available at their fingertips. Humanity as a whole has to get better at changing the thinking of Sociopaths and/or Isolating them.

stevebaby

Slowly,but surely,we are learning to live with each other and accomodate our differences.
As events in India,South Africa,East Germany,Russia et al,have shown,if enough people just say "NO" the world can change and become a better place.Without our kids dying in a futile war.
I had a psychology lecturer (many years ago) who posited the theory that wars were nature's way of eliminating the most aggressive of the human species,in order that the most passive should survive to propagate their own kind.Not often I agree with the bible,but the meek will indeed inherit the earth because everyone else will eliminate themselves (and their progeny) from contention.
Take heart,none of us can change the world on our own, right now,but eventually we will,for the best reason of all.
Our kids.

__________________
I'm Rooting for Chiara!
Drink!Feck!Arrse!Girls!
bastard

stevebaby

And yep,I'm pretty comfortably numb too,with the assistance of some fine German Weinstephan (sp?)And a nice day on the Harbour on the boat.
The thinking man's response to the many problems of life.

__________________
I'm Rooting for Chiara!
Drink!Feck!Arrse!Girls!
bastard

limerickman

A very good post DB.

I don't know much about Taoism to be honest but it sounds like a very worthy
concept.

__________________
.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

darkboong

That doesn't really work in modern times, it might have worked when the captains of the teams actually set foot on the battlefield. Blair, Cheney and Bush are not exactly Richard Lionheart are they ? More like Dick Chickenshit, yet they are super-aggressive sociopaths who will most likely live out their days and have raised a family.

That mode of evolution will only really work if the folks instigating the violence are the ones who pay the ultimate price. As it happens that ain't the case.

I have a prediction to make that I hope is wrong.

My prediction is that within a decade the US will have killed over 5,000 civillians with a single Nuclear strike. The target will be a country that does not have the facility to either defend itself against the attack or retaliate on equal terms. The on-topic bit of the prediction is that the sociopath who orders that attack and their family will continue to survive and piss in the shallow end of the genepool.

limerickman

I agree with you about the sociopath analogy.
The fact that none of these "leaders" have ever fought in a real conflict
makes their decision to throw human life away, easier.
They're disengaged for the tangible suffering which ensues when military action commences.

Anyone who I have ever read about or listened to - always say that battle is the very very last resort in a confrontational situation.

I hope you're wrong about the nuclear attack issue.

__________________
.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

darkboong

Me too, but the moves have been going on for a long time and they started before the Clinton administration came to power. There are some folks there who really do want to blow shit up with nukes, and they've been making sure that the stockpile has the highest yield and the best delivery systems ever. The very public changing of the rules of engagement combined with the heavy use of the phrase "more usable nuclear weapons" chills me to the bone.

All this has happened while the US faces the smallest nuclear threat over the last 30 years. Someone *really* wants to blow shit up.

Carrera

A nuclear strike against Iran is pretty unlikely. Iran is too close to the Caspian region which it shares with Russia, Kazakstan and other countries. So, I very much doubt Bush would use nukes against the Iranians.
The biggest danger we do face, I suppose, is an attack launched by Israel against Iran if Iran continues to rant in Israel's direction. After the hollocaust of Nazi Germany, Israel obviously gets very jumpy when mullahs in Iran say Israel should be wiped off the map.
Of course, I do think events in Iraq have helped radicalise Iran and the way forward is to get the U.N. in Iraq and help it become more stable so the Iranians will hopefully steer in the way of democracy and not radicalism.
The big question is this, though: What would you folks do in the event of a draft? My position is I basically oppose this whole war as my own country (or no other European country) has been attacked by either Iran or Iraq. If Iraq had attacked London or Paris, I'd have done my bit in the draft but this case is different.
Blair now seems very keen to urge Bush to go to war as he did in Yugoslavia, for that matter.