I was watching a movie about life for black boys in a rough neighbourhood of Los Angeles in the 1980s and the endless cycle of violence that most men were/are trapped in. At the end of the movie, there is a dialogue about how the American news shows paint foreign countries in conflict as hell on earth, while ignoring the war-zones in their own country.
The world has become a scarier place in the past five years. While watching the movie, it occurred to me that the world has always been a scary place for disadvantaged groups--for blacks in the US and most other countries in the West, for Dalits and Muslims in India, etc. But I say this without any guilt or any remonstration to myself to toughen up. Yes, I come from a world of privilege, and I don't take my privileges for granted. But, all of us deserve to feel home in this world, even if, in reality, there are many worlds. One can beat oneself to oblivion about how one is complicit in perpetuating a system of privilege without making a jot of difference to that system of privilege. People who are too busy beating themselves up don't have much time for other things. Or one can accept that by merely existing, one is complicit in perpetuating the dominant order, unless one is an outlaw. And, then move on to how best to be kind, starting with yourself and the people around you.
As an aside, it says something about this world when even the privileged start to find it a scary place. Revolutions seldom happen as a fell swoop, all though they are remembered as such. We may be in the midst of a revolution but will only be able to recognize it as one in hindsight.
The world has become a scarier place in the past five years. While watching the movie, it occurred to me that the world has always been a scary place for disadvantaged groups--for blacks in the US and most other countries in the West, for Dalits and Muslims in India, etc. But I say this without any guilt or any remonstration to myself to toughen up. Yes, I come from a world of privilege, and I don't take my privileges for granted. But, all of us deserve to feel home in this world, even if, in reality, there are many worlds. One can beat oneself to oblivion about how one is complicit in perpetuating a system of privilege without making a jot of difference to that system of privilege. People who are too busy beating themselves up don't have much time for other things. Or one can accept that by merely existing, one is complicit in perpetuating the dominant order, unless one is an outlaw. And, then move on to how best to be kind, starting with yourself and the people around you.
As an aside, it says something about this world when even the privileged start to find it a scary place. Revolutions seldom happen as a fell swoop, all though they are remembered as such. We may be in the midst of a revolution but will only be able to recognize it as one in hindsight.
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