Thursday, June 16, 2011

If I was ashamed- Once upon a time in a city called Vancouver.

For starters let me just say I in no way support what happened in Vancouver last night. I also feel a fair amount of anger and sadness and not just about last night but for the situation as a whole. I empathize with some of the reactions to the riot and I agree with some of the points being made.

However to be truthful if I was ashamed of the nature of humanity in the case of this event it real wouldn't be just for the riot. I would feel a deeper sense of shame for how much importance, money and time people spend pouring into this shit in the first place, while the rest of the world is in chaos environmentally, economically, socially and politically. I would feel more ashamed of my own nature to want to distract myself from the shit that is going on in the world because I can't handle the pain and the fact I feel powerless. I would feel ashamed that I turn my back on the happenings of the world and choose to numb out instead.


 I would also feel more ashamed at my own need to point fingers and the human nature to blame. Scapegoating others, emotionally distancing ourselves to help each of us feel somewhat superior and like we are not all part of the bigger picture. Like we are some how immune to human nature that we don't need to try and understand why those people acted the way they did because we are superior beings and that would never happen to us.  If I was ashamed it would be at the failure to look at the whole situation, and the roots of the problems. If I was ashamed it would be for the lack of understanding, or at the search into understanding of the causation of mob mentality taking place right now. This kind of unfolding and the herd mentality is nothing new and it isn't even unique to the human species. 

Yes if I felt any shame it would not just be for the flash in the pan riot where some people lost control because of feeding off hormones and the energy of the crowd. It wouldn't just be for the brief second those people lost themselves and got carried away in the moment. My embarrassment would be more for the big picture the distractions we feed ourselves with, our us against them mentality, the scapegoating and the finger pointing. 

However ashamed  I maybe of the process of what it means to be human (or even in what it means to be myself and my actions in and my reactions to the world around me)  I still love humanity both the good and the bad. I forgive myself for my imperfections and I forgive everyone involved in what happened at last nights event and what is continuing to unfold in the world around me. I feel love and empathy for all those involved from beginning to end.