I watched the disturbing film, Molly's Game, on Saturday night. It was so troubling to see Molly beat up by a criminal during the film. She had woven a tangled web and become involved in illegal activity with shady characters, and those characters were willing to kill her to get what they wanted.
I listen to the reports of state troopers who cheated and broke the law. I wonder why they chose to do the wrong thing. Did they simply embrace a cheating culture that existed, fear to speak up or do the right thing, or get involved simply out of their own greed and will to make extra money.
I laid on the floor day after day reading the death notice of those killed in Vietnam wondering why did we have to have war. Similarly when I read about the Holocaust, I thought why didn't people help out sooner or speak up more. Atrocities led by self-serving greed and violence are happening all over the world, and there is no reason why these atrocities have to occur.
Even in my own small world, injustices occur, and when those injustices occur, it takes courage to speak up, tell your truth, and work for betterment.
No one likes to read about wrong doing, injustice, oppression, and dangerous, illegal activity. Often people turn a blind eye to the terrible problems that occur in their worlds and elsewhere. Sometimes it may seem impossible to speak up and survive. I remember reading a story a while back about crimes during war where officers were told not to speak up for fear of breaking alliances. I wondered what I would do as I heard abuse happening and I was told not to speak up. It was a disturbing story. In every place of work great and small ethical challenges occur and when we begin a practice of speaking up with respect and empathy to the small infractions that compromise ethics, we become stronger at speaking up at the greater injustices and oppression that occur. To speak up doesn't always mean we have to blame, instead a reaction to injustice can mean that we have to make better in ways that changes people's minds and actions while also making amends for past wrong doing.
There are good stories related to this too. I love the story of the World War Two Nuremberg prosecutor, Ben Ferencz and the way he persisted to prosecute Holocaust war time criminals. He didn't give up when he met challenge in his pursuit to do what was right, but instead moved ahead to do the right thing. This is a wonderfully uplifting story of justice.
In the face of current day events--events that are troubling since our President appears to show little regard for everyday people at home and around the world, and he appears to be more interested in his wealth, power, and survival and the wealth, power, and survival of his chosen cronies at home and abroad. We don't see him championing environmental protection so we all have clean air, water, and soil. We don't see him supporting a quality, fair, and equitable education for all children. We haven't heard him stand up with strength against prejudice, and in fact we can infer from his inaction and words that he favors some cultures, races, religions, geography, gender, and ways of living and being over others. He has not been a champion of human rights, world peace, or positive global partnerships, but instead seems to put most of his attention, as stated before, on increasing his and his cronies personal wealth and power. It's a sad state of affairs and one that could get worse if people don't take the time to read carefully, speak up, and act for betterment. #wecandobetter and we must.
Yet we all can feel small in the face of this adversity. With average salaries at best, demanding work and family schedules, and little extra cash, most Americans may feel like they can't get involved in the politics of the day or do anything that truly can make positive change. Yet if we don't speak up and act, we have to be satisfied with the two-tier system of the have's and have-nots that is becoming more prominent in the world. This two-tiered system will lead to war and revolution if better supports for all people living on Earth are not supported and forwarded. We have a chance to act now--every one of us can contribute in the some or all of the following ways:
- Know what's going on. Read as much as you can about the issues of the day and make informed decisions.
- Believe that we can better the conditions for living at home and abroad for everyone.
- Stand up for environmental protection--we need our natural resources to survive, and the short time gain of not paying attention to this need is not worth the long term pain that our children and grandchildren will meet when they don't have enough clean water, air, and soil. Already in a Mexican town I read about recently the people there cannot access clean water while Coca-Cola is utilizing large amounts of the clean water that's available in the area. Flint, Michigan is another painful reminder that clean water is going to become a bigger and bigger issue if we don't act soon.
- Register to vote and vote--it's difficult for many everyday people to get to the polls. I know that as I've sometimes not voted because I was simply too exhausted and had too many family obligations to drag myself from my house to the voting booth, but look what happens when you don't vote for your interests--you get leaders who don't care about you or what you need to live a good life.
- Contribute time regularly to making life better for yourself and others in ways that you can.
- Stay on the side of what's good and positive, heed the words of this quote: "Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!" - Sir Walter Scott, 1808