There are many tragedies happening every day. Sure, there can be a discussion on what a tragedy is, but to me, a tragedy is when someone dies as a direct effect of somebody else’s actions performed with intentions. There are accidents. But there are also people who purposefully produce harm.
Maybe they were harmed themselves by others, in their past. Maybe they live with untreated mental issues. Maybe they lived with too much pain and this is how they consider proper to live. Maybe they are simply evil and they are acting in a perfectly deliberate manner.
It matters a great deal why something has happened, even though nothing can be done to prevent what has already happened. Sure, it could help professionals identify cause and effect and train others to act with more diligence in the future. It is certainly important to understand what happened in order to prevent it, when prevention is a must. And yes, we must prevent people from killing other people. It’s unmoral to do otherwise.
But I wonder why do people need to be reminded of simple truths in order to get motivated and do the right thing? The right thing is known all along. But for some reason, it’s not enough to know it. We need to know that we know it. At a much deeper level; so deep that it inspires constant action.
We know we should be prepared for extreme phenomena. We know we need to move our body. We know smocking produces harm. We know sugar is producing diseases. We know so much. But somehow, there seems to be many types of knowing.
At the moment, I differentiate between two types of knowing:
- Superficial: information based. I know sports is good, I just don’t `feel` like doing it;
- Profound: which motivates behaviour: I know sports is good, I’ve seen what lack of movement is doing to my body so I move and train on a regular basis, no matter if I am in the mood or not.
But coming back to the main idea. Tragedies happen when people relax somehow. We have created so many procedures, so many regulations, so many roles, that in order to get something done, to act in emergencies and respond to particular/different cases it’s almost impossible.
We do so much office work and spend so little time on the field. We get more and more proficient in doing highly skilled work, but we are not yet able to keep citizens safe, fed and healthy. We somehow, despite clear social contract, haven’t managed to enable citizens to act in institutions proficient enough to actually produce results for the people who pay and contribute to maintaining the respective social contract. What is it that keeps us far from doing the right thing? What is keeping us from acting with kindness? What is keeping us from enhancing social justice? What is keeping us from creating a safe world? Why do we do this to humanity? How many people have to die, how many tragedies have to happen before we finally make a pledge to get better and to enforce it?
How comes we have so many politicians focused on short term deliverables, on specific tasks? I feel that we lack a social project, a plan to make this country a grater place to live in. I wish, just once, to have politicians who work for a higher purpose, who dedicate their entire life to bringing social justice, who inspire public servants to do their work: to do field work, to build communities, to know what people do, to keep citizens safe and to develop their localities.
The event which happened not so long ago has, once again, reminded me [not that I’d ever be able to forget it] that girls are not safe. No person is safe, but for some reason, girls are more exposed to individuals who have the power to kill them.
I do believe that if every one of us does their work, tragedies can be prevented. For instance, when people are using formal services/businesses to meet their needs. Or when the public authorities create public services or encourage people to create businesses to meet the existing needs. When the social worker, once hired, is doing field work, knowing the families in the locality, the existing resources, needs, problems and uses them [and creativity] to meet the needs of most citizens. Yes, I wish I wouldn’t be describing a make-believe world. But our individual action matters, despite considering, with resignation, that it doesn’t. Because it simply does. Both our actions and inaction matter!
It sometimes feels we live in a country where people want to do the least they possibly can and gain all the goods. We know we need to work hard to get what we want, but somehow, we don’t know this good enough. We know it. But we don’t know it, at the deeper level at which this information should actually be known.
I can’t help but feeling guilty when tragedies happen. I believe I could do more, but I am not sure what to do. I am not sure where to start. So, I am writing on this blog, in English, on what could we do to become more self-aware, to be happy and to do our work. There is still enough place for each one of us under the sky. It would just be great if we start trying to focus on being kinder to other people, knowing our neighbours and speaking-out about injustices.
So, in order to conclude, ladies, please take care of yourselves! Try to use public transportation, as much as possible. Or a bike. Or walk. Or drive, if you will. Try to walk in groups, especially at night. Be kind, but don’t trust people you don’t know. End even when you know them, base your trust on actions delivered with consistency, not words. Go to the gym, learn to run fast and self-defense, if interested. Don’t be afraid to be strong, you must fend for yourself. I wish girls would feel more safe, but we are no, so why behaving as if we were?
And, please, just please, do your job well. Whatever the job is. When you know your role in society, just be good at what you do: be a good kid, a good adult, be a good student and a good teacher, be a good leader and a good follower, be a good mother, be a good wife, be a good professional. Be good, be fierce, be high-demanding of yourself. And most importantly, keep yourself safe!
Make the day count.