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serynI've definitely reached cause burnout.
There were tsunami warnings all along the west coast yesterday. Not like the tsunamis that actually did damage elsewhere, but there wasn't anything else on the news other than what plans might be implemented if there really was a tsunami.
Earthquake in Japan. Yeah, bad. But it's like this week's disaster. Chile's earthquake, still not fixed up since. Haiti still hosed after their hurricanes. New Zealand so crushed that they're abandoning (some portion of) Christchurch, one of their recognizably-named-to-outsiders cities. Australia isn't going to manage to de-swampify their country for months or even years. And these are just the non-manmade disasters that actually make the news. Add in the political upheaval in Africa and Africa's armpit... then when you've listed all these things the people in New Orleans start whining again, and deservedly so since their region is still stomped flat.
I have sympathy for all these places, to a certain extent. Not to the extent of giving any money to the Red Cross since something like 99% of their money goes toward administrative costs. But to a certain extent.
But I can't feel that much for all those places and all those people. I don't know anyone there. (I know some people in New Orleans and frankly they deserved a lot worse than what happened to them since they were the lucky ones. But no one in Chile, Haiti, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, etc.) I my emotional range is broader than a teaspoon, but is apparently shallow enough that it evaporates when shot halfway around the world.
The coffee woman is very girly girly and cried and cried when she saw the pictures of Japan on the news. I felt monstrous. If there's reincarnation with the same emotional abilities, I want to be a man next time!
When I was in school and there were all these clubs and organizations to help change the world, I was dating someone who was absolutely horrified that I didn't think it was essential to join Amnesty International and something about dog washing. I explained that that was really far away and any efforts I made would be diluted or reversed before they arrived. (I had me some cynicism, even then!) Then there was some group to help students at our school because they were disenfranchised. I didn't want to join that either. (Well, their fundraiser was about running. I'm not a runner and I sure wasn't going to pay money to run. Which makes the gym membership ironic now.) But I was really interested in state and federal politics and the interactions of states and commerce. I like my mid-range causes. The ones where you don't have to shame your neighbors into taking your money and trying to hold their heads up afterward, but where your efforts might actually change something. The guy I was dating thought I was pretty useless since the stuff that interested me wasn't about helping people. Except it kind of is. When political policy circumvents people, they are hurt by it and frequently become disenfranchised... but even then, my efforts were more along the lines of "these rights currently exist and should continue to do so. artificially creating equality by stripping people of their rights is a poor method... we want equality of opportunity not equality of oppression. and when we complain there isn't equality, that doesn't mean come crush the people who are doing well enough to uplift their neighbors."
But I just don't know how people have any emotional juice left to cry over the latest crisis when none of the previous ones have been resolved. It almost seems like all this wailing and crying doesn't do anything productive to solve the problems. And yet, other women stare at me for not being demonstrative.
I'm just really not sure that someone who is so uninvolved with what's happening in the world that they don't know about a disaster for more than 24 hours after it happens can possibly see herself as better than me because I'm not crying the next day. Really. Even if I was a crier, wouldn't I be over it by then? I wanted to ask the coffee woman, "Why are you thinking I'm a monster because I was paying attention yesterday and this morning and you've just woken up at 2pm?"
She sent something around saying that if we sent her a check, she would forward it to her husband's work, because they are doing matching contributions. I looked at that and thought, "Wow, a daisy chain of fools! The only people getting the tax deduction there is the employer. If they actually meant it, they would accept the e-receipts and match those. Then asking your friends to contribute wouldn't help at all and wouldn't allow you to brag about it." And we know what's important to you since you told me all about your tears but still went to have your nails and hair done.
There were tsunami warnings all along the west coast yesterday. Not like the tsunamis that actually did damage elsewhere, but there wasn't anything else on the news other than what plans might be implemented if there really was a tsunami.
Earthquake in Japan. Yeah, bad. But it's like this week's disaster. Chile's earthquake, still not fixed up since. Haiti still hosed after their hurricanes. New Zealand so crushed that they're abandoning (some portion of) Christchurch, one of their recognizably-named-to-outsiders cities. Australia isn't going to manage to de-swampify their country for months or even years. And these are just the non-manmade disasters that actually make the news. Add in the political upheaval in Africa and Africa's armpit... then when you've listed all these things the people in New Orleans start whining again, and deservedly so since their region is still stomped flat.
I have sympathy for all these places, to a certain extent. Not to the extent of giving any money to the Red Cross since something like 99% of their money goes toward administrative costs. But to a certain extent.
But I can't feel that much for all those places and all those people. I don't know anyone there. (I know some people in New Orleans and frankly they deserved a lot worse than what happened to them since they were the lucky ones. But no one in Chile, Haiti, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, etc.) I my emotional range is broader than a teaspoon, but is apparently shallow enough that it evaporates when shot halfway around the world.
The coffee woman is very girly girly and cried and cried when she saw the pictures of Japan on the news. I felt monstrous. If there's reincarnation with the same emotional abilities, I want to be a man next time!
When I was in school and there were all these clubs and organizations to help change the world, I was dating someone who was absolutely horrified that I didn't think it was essential to join Amnesty International and something about dog washing. I explained that that was really far away and any efforts I made would be diluted or reversed before they arrived. (I had me some cynicism, even then!) Then there was some group to help students at our school because they were disenfranchised. I didn't want to join that either. (Well, their fundraiser was about running. I'm not a runner and I sure wasn't going to pay money to run. Which makes the gym membership ironic now.) But I was really interested in state and federal politics and the interactions of states and commerce. I like my mid-range causes. The ones where you don't have to shame your neighbors into taking your money and trying to hold their heads up afterward, but where your efforts might actually change something. The guy I was dating thought I was pretty useless since the stuff that interested me wasn't about helping people. Except it kind of is. When political policy circumvents people, they are hurt by it and frequently become disenfranchised... but even then, my efforts were more along the lines of "these rights currently exist and should continue to do so. artificially creating equality by stripping people of their rights is a poor method... we want equality of opportunity not equality of oppression. and when we complain there isn't equality, that doesn't mean come crush the people who are doing well enough to uplift their neighbors."
But I just don't know how people have any emotional juice left to cry over the latest crisis when none of the previous ones have been resolved. It almost seems like all this wailing and crying doesn't do anything productive to solve the problems. And yet, other women stare at me for not being demonstrative.
I'm just really not sure that someone who is so uninvolved with what's happening in the world that they don't know about a disaster for more than 24 hours after it happens can possibly see herself as better than me because I'm not crying the next day. Really. Even if I was a crier, wouldn't I be over it by then? I wanted to ask the coffee woman, "Why are you thinking I'm a monster because I was paying attention yesterday and this morning and you've just woken up at 2pm?"
She sent something around saying that if we sent her a check, she would forward it to her husband's work, because they are doing matching contributions. I looked at that and thought, "Wow, a daisy chain of fools! The only people getting the tax deduction there is the employer. If they actually meant it, they would accept the e-receipts and match those. Then asking your friends to contribute wouldn't help at all and wouldn't allow you to brag about it." And we know what's important to you since you told me all about your tears but still went to have your nails and hair done.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-13 10:48 am (UTC)So, my fix for disasters elsewhere is to work harder on helping people nearby. I know how to do that, I don't have to flip out about texting OHNOES to whoever to add money to my phone bill.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-13 07:27 pm (UTC)I don't help people locally, but we've talked about how incredibly difficult they make it to give anything but money.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-13 02:39 pm (UTC)I'm very sorry for all the people who have been caught up in the recent disasters, but I'm not crying for them because I don't know them. It always seems to me to be crocodile tears, crying for strangers.
no subject
Date: 2011-03-13 07:30 pm (UTC)I try to help locally, but they make it incredibly difficult to do anything but give money. They don't seem to want hands or goods. So I volunteered teaching people to knit, which isn't really the same thing as what's needed after a disaster.