I've been in a lot of places around this planet, and some of them were horrible, and I've seen horrible things. I saw some happening in front of me,
and I saw the consequences of others.
Children mutilation, rape, bullying of whole villages (and some places, bullying means cutting your feet so you stay helpless in the middle of the
street) and all that sort of things you hear about, you see in movies, but are very rare to go through the average joe.
Some people see this stuff on the internet, in those websites that promote that type of content, others think that's sick and never watch them. But
the people who do watch them, gain a different view of the world. A world that isn't filtered by your news at 6...
Some people deal with it, and simply understand that some places in the world are simply horrible. Others ignore it, and complain about mundane
thing's (compared to this type of event) that affect them. And that's just fine, not everyone has a heart to deal with this type of cruelty.
From all the things I've seen, and through the pages of History, I managed to draw a conclusion. To some, this is something obvious, but to most,
isn't... At least, the real weight of it isn't present.
Violence is always related to ignorance and uneducated people(plural, as in society).
If you look through History, you will see that in Europe, the massive violence stopped (for the most part, at least) around the time people started to
get a basic education. When people started to read, to develop their intellect and to understand and learn about the world, things started to calm
down.
We learned about understanding, and comprehension. We saw that we are not alone in the world, that there are other cultures, just like us, but at the
same time, very different. Even through that discovery process, we made mistakes. Slavery is one of them. But, if people are willing to learn, they
are also willing to understand and care, because inevitably you will learn that the people who you bring suffering upon, aren't all that different
from yourself.
That's why you see barbaric things in countries that can't afford to educate their people, and that's why you see so many remarkable people from this
cultures, when they get an education and travel the world. Excluding my family and my close and loved friends, the people who I utterly respect and
have a huge admiration, are all people who come from difficult countries and cultures, that got and education and found out about the world. They are
the most peaceful people, the most respecting, and most of all, they still have memories of dark events in their life time.
To us, this is a shock. Burning someone is heart breaking, whatever they have done. There are punishments for actions, and there is cruelty. This is
cruelty, this is insanity.
Why do people do this? Because they don't know better. They can't read the most beautiful books in the world. They can't read Shakespeare and learn
about Romeo and Juliet and how love can change you and make awesome things. They can't read poetry from many countries, they can't even read their own
history.
What do they have left? That priest that knows how to read, and speaks to hundreds of people in a village. The vision that those people have of the
world, is the one given to them by their priest or their uneducated culture.
Given them education, care about them, and all is different. Meet a exchange student from Africa, or Eastern Europe, or from a poor area of Asia, and
I guarantee you that you'll meet the most extraordinary people.
Which brings me to a small fear that I have:
Most modern and developed societies (US, many in europe and Asia) are going back to ignorance. The youth is letting go, bit by bit, their knowledge
past, and although we have kids that are even more remarkable than our best and biggest leaders, they are also becoming a minority. People are being
dumbed down, and I fear that people will start to emerge violence again.
The US is the worst case. You all know this is true. You see the kids in your schools, you see your youth and you watch the reality in your country
(US) and you can tell that people are stopping caring, and are getting more ignorant. Not by choice, but because things are being lead that way.
The responsibility for change is on the shoulders of those who still care. And the american people needs to allow their society to open doors to
people like JFK and M.Luther King. They aren't rare. It's just rare that people allow such strong personalities to get into places they can make a
difference.
When I was in a military history class, back in the recruit, during a lesson about the relationship of soldiers and the occupied cultures, my
instructor said something to us that I never forgot, and lead my way when I was stationed in other countries: If you are willing to learn about them,
you are willing to love them.
Best regards.
P.S.: Don't be afraid of how nasty the world can be. Be afraid of not making something to change it.
edit on 28/10/10 by Tifozi because:
typo