The Fight For Justice Is An Inconvenient One At Best

But it's a necessary one.

So I'm wondering what type of buffoonery awaits in the news today. Or what accident will claim the life of some unsuspecting person? Who's child will go missing? What act of violence will occur? Who will feel so utterly hopeless that they wish they hadn't been born.

There's always something isn't it?

I am so tired...of being angry or dismayed or outraged or thinking about what I have to do to speak out on something. There's no Utopia out there waiting for us. See I feel compelled to do so. I can't be silent, or bury my head in the sand or say "oh that's somebody else's problem". We live in a world where we are interdependent on each other. Despite some thoughts to the contrary many of us do care but we may not even know where to begin to scratch the service.

Sometimes we just have to get through the day and we think we'll be okay..and then we can do something. Funny, but that time won't ever really come though. It's what we do right now when it's not convenient, when we're tired, when we'd rather be sleeping, when we have our own struggles is exactly when we do need to step up. 

Now I'm not advocating martyrdom and Lord knows some of us have already taken on more burdens than one person should bear. I'm referring to people whose consciousness has been piqued a bit but who are hesitant to take action. Start somewhere, fumble a bit and learn. Your efforts are needed. Don't expect an immediate reward or any type of kudos. Just do it. 

We have far too many who are only interested in their particular causes, issues, talking points or points of view and once they get their pat on the head they'll be off to LaLa land. I'm not talking about Los Angeles but sticking ones fingers in ones ears and ignoring the suffering of others. There's a difference between living a life of inconvenience and one of abject poverty. There's a difference between not being able to be just as much of a jerk as your neighbor, dangling a carrot above another's head and having to be abused verbally/physically in order to keep your low-wage job. 

We live in a country that tells us it's our "right" to do whatever we like to get ahead. Acquire and consume. Trash and start again. Crash and burn. Blame somebody else for your problems. If only "those people" weren't in the way you could "get yours". It's all a lie. There's a ruling class that works in concert with each other to retain power. There's a racial and gender (and orientation/identification) hierarchy. It takes focused and consistent efforts from a cross-section of dedicated people who will not be deterred to make any inroads in shifting that. For it's never quite dismantled. If some of those people can be convinced to accept a cookie instead of holding out for the real reward any efforts will fail. A backlash will occur and a regression will in fact happen. 

Can't you see it going on all around you right now? If you stand very still, cut through all the distractions and noise it will reveal itself to you. Sometimes it's not about the outrage but about the hope. Sometimes it's not about the fight but the surrender. Sometimes it's better to stop talking about the wrongs and find the good to highlight. We have to find a way to move past points of disagreement and look for solutions.

We have to remember that we are seeing, speaking, breathing and living PEOPLE. We are not animals. It has to be about principles but even those must start from somewhere. It can't be only about darkness and heat. We need light and air to breath. All we have is each other. 

Justice is just about us. It's worth the effort it takes to achieve it.