Have you ever heard the quote about the only way for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing. thats not exactly it, but thats the jist of it. i dont know how true that is... maybe it is. i certainly know that i do that. keep quiet that is. it might have something to do with the 'culture of silence' that perpetuates here, or it might have something to do with not wanting to entangle your self in a mess.
well ok, let me not not be so vague, let me talk about myself atleast. the issue thats floating in the air in the above para is about the conflict thats on the verge of breaking out now. i know about it, i read stuff about it, i have my own ideas and opinions about it.. but i never express it. why? well there are a number of reasons... firstly, i dont know everything thats happening, so should i be vocal about my half baked ideas? then, i'm singhalese and concsious of it and the fact that since we are majority, my ideas will be considered biased and prejudiced. i will always be considered on the one side of the fence by both parties. then there is the whole 'theres not much i can do' syndrome where you feel like ur opinions willnot do much but gather dust and criticism. so why bother. and finally there is the lets not trouble trouble till it troubles you. well.. o yeah.. one more.. by nature i dont feel obliged to bombard my sanity with facts about how the world is collapsing around my feet. Damn u Ababuo!!! u win this round.. i seem to have lost my specs... !
anyway back to the subject, i suppose thats the reasoning behind alot of people keeping quiet on either side. good people. who dont unite. and demand peace. what do we know right?
but then theres that quote staring back at me... the only way for evil to succeed... is for people like you and me to not keep quiet.
o wow. thats quite huge isnt it. but feasible. and necessary. better than idiot politicians having there say.
but how? and in a meaningful manner?
yesterdays news covered a topic on how Sri Lankans (thats everyone ok) in UK protesting against the BBC for taking an biased view of the brewing conflict. Now thats effective isnt it. Maybe it might do something- create awarenss atleast about the LTTE propoganda, which i feel is exactly that.
i think that since i touched upon this subject maybe i should state that i try to be unbiased, multi ethnic, and non sectarian, and u can help me be so by showing me differnt perspectives. my friends (which is the only circle i can chose) are not limited to any religion or an ethnic group. so leave your own prejudices and biases when u step thru my portal.
more on this topic later... slowly. its a little too much for my senses.. and i seem to have found my glasses!
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Yup Yup Yup. one of my first points - dont really know the whole story. but essentially isnt it also true that there are times, things and incidents that we know for sure are wrong. like the BBC business. or some of the LTTE propoganda. or just simply war instead of negotiations? i mean what do you really think is the reason the conflict is brewing again? why not negotiate?
ReplyDeleteAgree with u.. when u get right down to it, no one has anything against anyone. neither u nor me, or the average singhalese or tamil, or the poor villages directly affected by the war. there are just trying to get on with daily living. i dont know, but sometimes i feel that the few who do have some bias or prejudice.. seem to speak out more.. and so there seems to be more of them, doesnt it?
but what is you opinion? would evil suceed if good people keep quiet?
will evil succeed if the good people keep quiet?...one of my favourite quotes, my inspiration to do this kind of work, to study human rights and keeness to join the media...
ReplyDelete"We shall have to repent in this generation not so much for the evil deeds of the wicked people but for the appalling silence of the good people"
- Martin Luther King Jr
As for what you can do...you can stand up no matter what, you might get tauted killed even, but that's a worthwhile risk- "evil"(I don't think good and evil exists without a mixture of one with the other-ying and yang, but that's another story...) In the end you try as hard knowing you may never see the fruits of your actions.
ReplyDeletewhen a group of women stood everyday at the lipton circus holding placards calling for peace, most people who passed by laughed...but at the very least i hope that one person went away "thinking" and that's how anything-"good" or "bad" starts. and that's where your specs and your idealism comes in handy.
I know I live in a grey world and cannot expect to realise my idealism but that does not stop me...a person needs idealism to sustain herself! and to continue living. but your practical side knows that nothing comes for free and you have to work hard for anything meaningful you simply can't "hope" for your idealism to be, you have to do something no matter how small then "hoping" that you helped one person out...in the end we are all selfish beings we need to feel good about ourselves and this can be an incredible driving force.
Another quote for you-
""... the true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit." - Nelson Mandela
well... what do i say. it seems like i have heard now, what i always knew, but is so difficult to do.
ReplyDeleteit really is. and most of the time, its ineffective. thats what irks me. its like trying to swim agianst the tide. its so difficult. seems like there's too few of us doing it as well. and yes, we are selfish self preserving people. which is why we feel more comfortable in numbers. but its also true that 'u cannot break a bundle of sticks, tho u can break each individually'. (thats not a quote by the way.. eh.. i dont know what that is). but seroiusly.. something needs to be done.
i dont know what. but i will tell u what i do. will u do that too?