Sickening

I just watched The Last King of Scotland, a film highlighting some of the life of Idi Amin, former leader of Uganda. What kind of world is this? I am sadly sickened by what horrors we as people can perpetrate on others, our planet and ourselves. It seems that stories of such intensity and saddness can also serve as opportunities for people to show the strength of their character when acting in the face of such evil. Of course, it is difficult to say how many people find the opportunity to express their strength in such circumstances. Movies might make us want to believe that there is always at least one person who's efforts bring about change, but for every such person there are innumerable others who are complicit. This is understandable when one considers how easy it is to "join the crowd" regardless of the severity of the circumstances. Or perhaps it is better but that it is more difficult to step out of the crowd since we are already in it.

And then there's me. Someone who has never faced such trying circumstances. While I am truly thankful for the life that I have had and my luck at having avoided such tragedy, I find that life is relative. So instead of needing to be sickened by such horrors going on immedieately around me, I can instead be sickened by the fact that Britney Spears takes so much of our attention (my own included). Maybe this visit to rehab (supposedly her 3rd in a week) along with her hair-free head and new tattoos will adequately prove that the girl has stuff to work out. Now if only we could figure ourselves out and why that guilty part of us cares. Maybe it is just a great place to shift our brains and emotions into neutral in the face of the true horrors that befal the planet and those on it every day. While I could complain that our relative wealth here in North America affords us that opportunity, one which others may not have, I know that people facing the most difficult hardships need diversions. Everyone deserves to be happy, whether affluent or destitute. This is by no means an attack on the excesses of our culture (since I partake in many), just some meandering thought on the different contexts from which we come. Essentially, a lot of hot air that clearly needed to escape.