Life Goes on in Lebanon...
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
posted by Brooklyn at 2:50 AM
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We are the result of today's political, cultural and artistic chaos. We are young, ambitious, and the voice of our generation. We are the new hustle and WE*ARE*VANE! |
3 Comments:
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seeing this contrast of destruction in the background-as always-and life as usual in the foreground, i cannot help but wonder, is this ever going to change? amidst all this, and despite all the people with so much hope--i think i have become skeptical. not cynical--skeptical. what is a main reason rulers and rebel leaders push to start or perpetuate war? the origin is not ethnic/cultural grievance. do the reading--it's not. it's about private incentives. influential people gain more in a wartime economy than they do in peace. those are the facts--so then what am i, we, people with idealistic *hopes*, supposed to make of this?
I post this reply not as an expert with the answers, but as someone with as many questions as you. This is simply one man's perspective, and his way of negotiating our current reality and seeing that there is hope.
you, I, we as people—especially as idealists—must never lose sight of the fact that ultimately, we have power in ourselves that very rarely is realized. Personal gain will always outweigh the benefit of the masses, unless the masses become a problem or an obstacle to personal gain. There will always be self interests involved in every stage of life, and at the highest levels of politics and business it is no different. However, if we as people fail to speak out against rampant corruption and scandal, than we fail ourselves.
It’s a cop out to say “things will never change, therefore I shouldn’t do anything.” a voice that silences itself is no voice at all. This logic, however, plagues a majority of our generations who feel that they have no ability or power to change the world as they see it. But therein lies a problem with not only our population, but global populations of apathetic people who feel disenfranchised, not because they do not care, but because they see no signs of change in the future and feel that their actions are useless. They can't see past the day to day struggle of life, and therefore believe that it is none of their business.
Apathy is endemic, but so is the opposite feeling. Remember that a heretic is a man who screams alone, but a movement is a population that screams together.
of course, this is being idealistic, because we must always have a goal in mind if we ever want to see change brought about. I’m not talking about massive flag waving, fist pumping protests, but simply personal conviction must never be compromised because of the current political landscape. cynicism and skepticism differ greatly in that one dogma holds that nothing is true and that human nature on the whole is never genuine, while the latter refuses to believe a truth that is thrust upon one. Always be a skeptic, and never lose the inquisitive tendency to question everything. This is the only way that the current situation can ever possibly be alleviated—by questioning everything. A cynic has already lost faith in man and the instutions we have created.
My aim is not for this to be a rambling didactic, but simply to remind you that only history shall prove the righteous from the wrong. In twenty years, perhaps people will look back on this entire episode as another Dark Ages, or perhaps we will see this as a turning point in which the world became a better place. There is no prophet to guide us, and therefore the vague and nebulous future must be shaped by our actions. If we fail to act, then we have no one to blame but ourselves.
We appreciate the comments, and we are definitely listening. A large motivation behind this blog and the Vane movement was to spur intelligent thought and open a dialect between thinkers. Hope to hear from you soon.
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