I was talking in class yesterday about a story in one of Chris Hedges' books in which, in about 1938 or so, Germany, an elderly Jewish man is humiliated in the marketplace by two young men who clipped his beard while a crowd of people laughed. The storyteller said this was the pivotal moment when he knew that anything could happen to the Jewish people now. It wasn't the cruelty of the boys that spoke that truth, but the callousness of the crowd. These acts of cruelty are horrific, and it's vital we keep posting them like you are, and objecting to them loudly every single time. If compassion fatigue hits for a moment, then, if history is anything to go on, that could have us turn down an even darker road.
I am hopeful, Marie, that compassion fatigue will not set in; the unvarnished and unfiltered truth through citizens' videography captures a kind of graphic and immediate horror that is not easy to get used to or dismiss. As in the video of Dr. Dao being physically abused and removed from his flight, viewers may realize that citizens must stand up for themselves against the arbitrary power of the state and the corporation.
I see the Panthers are making a comeback. Hardly surprising. Is America in for a repeat of the race riots of the 60s and 70s? It's said that some of the alt-right are eager for a race war.
I was talking in class yesterday about a story in one of Chris Hedges' books in which, in about 1938 or so, Germany, an elderly Jewish man is humiliated in the marketplace by two young men who clipped his beard while a crowd of people laughed. The storyteller said this was the pivotal moment when he knew that anything could happen to the Jewish people now. It wasn't the cruelty of the boys that spoke that truth, but the callousness of the crowd. These acts of cruelty are horrific, and it's vital we keep posting them like you are, and objecting to them loudly every single time. If compassion fatigue hits for a moment, then, if history is anything to go on, that could have us turn down an even darker road.
ReplyDeleteI am hopeful, Marie, that compassion fatigue will not set in; the unvarnished and unfiltered truth through citizens' videography captures a kind of graphic and immediate horror that is not easy to get used to or dismiss. As in the video of Dr. Dao being physically abused and removed from his flight, viewers may realize that citizens must stand up for themselves against the arbitrary power of the state and the corporation.
DeleteI see the Panthers are making a comeback. Hardly surprising. Is America in for a repeat of the race riots of the 60s and 70s? It's said that some of the alt-right are eager for a race war.
ReplyDeleteThe insanity that is the United States truly defies understanding, Mound.
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