Kitty Genovese. Do you know that name? She was a strugglin' actress in the 1960's. She was murdered on her way home one night. Her murder was witnessed, in bits and pieces, by sumthin' close to a dozen people. When the story first ran they said it was more like twenty-eight but so far many of those people have been relieved of that burden. Still twelve is a hefty number for people to see a girl struggling with a man and not one phone call to have been made to the police. It was discovered she was bein' murdered when they found her body full of stab wounds the next mornin'.
The Patriot Act. You must remember that. Wire tapping in the name of patriotism. If you were against "The Patriot Act" surely you must be against America.
The Red Scare. Senator Joe McCarthy used communism as an excuse to interrogate and detain innocent people that questioned America's motives. Communism was thrown around much like "terrorism" is today. All of the enemies of America were communist but now they've become terrorists.
The Armenian Genocide. Doesn't get as much attention as Darfur or the Jewish Holocaust but they're all just as real.
Wal-Mart. I know you shop there. Everyone does. But did you know they give their employees a bonus around the holidays so long as they don't join a union? Did you know that you could be fired from Wal-Mart by simply mentioning a union to a co-worker? How 'bout how they treat their employees overseas? Did you know in China Wal-Mart not only provides despicable apartments for their employees but charges them rent whether they live there or not?
You know there is still very much an active KKK in America? Neo-Nazis are out there too. Holocaust deniers. How 'bout that man that killed his girlfriend, chopped 'er up, and burned the body in front of everybody usin' the pit on his apartment patio? The drug runners in Central and South America? Or the high rate of kidnappings there?
I could go on and on and on. There are a million causes worth mentioning that people simply ignore daily. The world is full of injustice and indifference. Then I here 'bout a fella named Glenn Beck spoutin' bull 'bout how empathy, of all things, can lead to a resurrection of Nazis.
Empathy? Really? Beck and O'Reilly can kiss my ass. If I ever go back on that feel free to spit on me. They sit there and play these games with the minds of the American public tryin' to get everyone brainwashed. I may write a lot and I may tell you how I think but you are always free to disagree with me on any thought. I'm not perfect, I might be misinformed on a subject or two but logic and freedom should always win out.
Logic tells me that empathy is the best way to understand your fellow man. Empathy allows you to put yourself in someone else's shoes, to feel as they feel, to understand what they want and what they're afraid of. You understand these things you understand a man. If you understand him you can love him like you do yourself. If you love him like that you can't truly hate him. You could still find him wrong but you couldn't wish death upon him anymore than you could wish death upon yourself.
Empathy is the only thing that'll really make this world a better place. If you can see yourself in every person you meet, you can love everyone. Kinda hard to say forget those people in Darfur or forget about seein' Ms. Genovese attacked.
I can't understand what's so hard about bein' empathetic to the people around us. I'm not unrealistic. I understand a life without joy ain't worth livin'. So if you wanna go watch a movie, or tell a few jokes over beers with friends by all means do it. But think about the others in the world that don't get to have fun durin' the weekend. Empathize with them once in a while.
The world is a scary place. It's also beautiful. It's full of happy children playin' with their lovin' parents in the park. It's got all kinds of beautiful animals that do everything from fly to glow to look like God's own Mr.Potatohead (Platypus.) There are shooting stars and supernovas. There are so many things to see and do here. It's a lovely, lovely place. But it's also the place where all that bad stuff happens and it's not right to forget either face of the world.
You think the world is all roses and you're naive. Think it's all thorns and of course that's all you're gonna see. The truth always seems to lie somewhere in the middle. Empathy is a way to keep your thoughts in the middle, see both sides and decide for yourself what justice and fairness is.
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