The more I see the less I know

It is infrequent that a single song, movie or talk makes big, lasting difference to me. But I've actually found both a song and a lecture that I have taken to heart in the last few weeks.

First, the song is called "Say Hey" by Michael Franti & Spearhead. (Yes, Michael Franti sounds like a Finnish name, but I'm pretty sure he is not.) I have many many happy sounding songs, but this one stands out to me for some reason. The video is a lot of fun. (I especially like the little old lady movin' her hips better than I can!) It is such a simple, exuberant song; It is absolutely impossible to hear this song and be mad or unhappy. The main line of the song is nothing more or less than "I love you, I love you, I love you!" This is everything. Can you really say it any other way? It's fantastic. I have been thinking about this song for weeks, and it makes me smile every time, even just thinking about it.

"It seems like everywhere I go,

The more I see, the less I know.

But I know one thing, that I love you.

I love you! I love you! I love you!"

The message is simple, but deep.

Second, I just watched a lecture on ted.com about children in India who made a difference. Kids at the Riverside school are being taught to be Contagious. They are being challenged, taken seriously, and shown that their opinions make a difference. This is an amazing phenomenon. India is a country of a billion+ people, a large portion of whom are impoverished and uneducated. Women, and especially children, make up a huge percentage of this underprivileged class. But India's children today will be their adults in just a few years. This program is remarkable in that it focuses on childrens' ability to DO. They are challenged to say "I can."

There are three stages. It all starts with Awareness: seeing the change. For example, children at the Riverside school were being taught about child labor, and to illustrate this, they were actually made to roll incense sticks for 8 hours, just for one day. Just one day. This opened their eyes, and really personalized and drove home the realities of child labor in India.

We Americans, as a country, are blooming in the Awareness stage. We know about the big problems, like pollution, climate change, environmental degradation, AIDS and other diseases, human rights violations and so on. Television and the Internet have fostered unprecedented leaps in access to information and global awareness. Despite the pridefully militant ignorance of a certain, unfortunately vociferous minority (I view the arrogance of the smug "anti-elitist" crowd incredibly ironic), we have have an fantastic wealth of knowledge at our very fingertips. With very few exceptions, there is really no excuse for ignorance.

The next step is Enabling: being changed. Now that these children are aware of the issue at hand, the school helped support a program in which the kids went out into the community to talk to people in taxies, businesses and just on the street to spread their newfound awareness. They learn first hand the challenges and obstacles that come with being entrepreneurs of social change.

We have only just juuust begun the Enablement phase. Far too often I witness people displaying knowledge about a hot-button issue, saying it's a horrible reality of life, and doing nothing. A line from the film Hotel Rwanda, a true story about the April 1998 genocide, stuck in my mind; The main character, Paul, was questioning an American journalist as to how people could be aware of the atrocities occurring in this country, and still do nothing. The journalist made the succinct yet cuttingly true remark: "People will watch this on the evening news and say "That's horrible," and then continue eating their dinner."

Activism is hard. We are tiny people in a big world, and one little voice is easily lost in the roar of mass media and general global hugeness. But if you don't say it, and I don't say it, then who will? We need to realize, as a nation, that we ARE in the Enablement phase. We really do have the ability, as a large, listened to, democratic country, to make real changes in the world. Especially as Americans, we are in a unique position as instigators and promotors of social change. Our media, policies and language all have such a global reach, that it would be irresponsible to NOT do something.

As Gandiji put it: Be the change you want to see in the world. That is the essence of the third step: Empowerment: leading the change. With so many opportunities, so much information, and such a position of power, every one of us has the potential to be the change. There is no reason you can't. If you don't, then that is your choice. Everything else is just an excuse.

The memorable closing comment of the lecture is: "If not us, then who? If not now, then when?"

Aujourd'hui nous sommes tous Haïtians

January 12th, 2010: A magnitude 7 earthquake struck Port-au-Prince late tuesday afternoon, causing massive destruction in Haiti's capital city. The death toll is not yet known, but estimates range between 50,000 and 100,000 casualties. Time magazine has ranked this disaster in the top 10 deadliest earthquakes in known history.

The world is stunned. Relief efforts are pouring in from the international community, but the city's devastated infrastructure has made distribution painfully slow and inefficient. The UN has failed to take control and leadership: pulling doctors out of makeshift hospitals then sending them back, organizing food and water distribution but failing to control the clamoring, desperate mob, and fleeing. Some political celebrities and cultural icons such as Hillary Clinton, Lenny Kravits and President Obama have also responded to the situation with varying degrees of commitment and effectiveness. Hillary's remarks that '[The US] will be there,' and 'Haiti will come out stronger than before,' seem hollow; mere lip service and political etiquette rather than critical analysis. On the other hand, Obama has pledged $100 million dollars to rebuild Haiti, adding that these efforts will remain a US priority long after they disappear from TV and internet news sites.

What will become of the small Caribbean country is yet to be seen. The threats of disease, starvation and violence are looming like an angry boil ready to burst. Staggering numbers of people desperately require medical attention, but makeshift hospitals are understaffed, overcrowded and undersupplied. Water is a huge problem, as is food, but even when these resources are present, difficulty in distributing them to those in need (particularly women and children) exacerbates the situation severely. Desperate people will fight to survive, often at the expense of others, leading to violence and turmoil. Political upheaval is imminent; Haiti is already ranked in the world's top 10 most corrupt nations, and the dismal failure of the Haitian government to respond to the crisis could easily become its coup de grâce, paving the way for radical regime change.

But the news is not all bad. Despite the difficulties on the ground, international response to the disaster has been astounding. Text-message donations have produced a staggering $10 million US dollars so far for the US Red Cross alone! This is by far the most money raised this quickly in the organizations entire history. I believe the reason is this: All too often, people sitting at home and watching the news will gape in horror and even shed a tear at the images and information flowing in from ground zero. But they also feel helpless, like there is little they can really do, without going too far out of their way. Even the best intentions often fall flat after 20 minutes away from the TV when the dog needs to go out and Baby Jimmy has the flu and the game is coming on. But this new text-message donation system is brilliant! Who doesn't have a cell phone now a days? Texting, especially for the younger generation, is as natural as brushing your teeth. But it's even easier: by texting the word HAITI to the number 90999, a donation of $10 automatically gets sent to the Red Cross, and is billed to your monthly phone bill. It can be done instantly. If I had cell phone service at my house I would have already done this, but it seems I will have to wait until tomorrow.

Today we are all Haitians. It seems appropriate to echo the 2001 headline from the French newspaper Le Monde following the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11. Disasters of great magnitude, after the shock and disbelief clears, have a way of uniting people across lines of nationality, race and language, espousing a kind of solidarity not often seen in this world. But they may also create violence and chaos, as desperate individuals struggle to stay alive, and start viewing others as competition for resources rather than brothers and sisters. These tragedies lay bare the real human spirit, indiscriminately exposing both the vile uglinessand the shining beauty that we are all capable of. We must act together, with solidarity and optimism, because in times like these, that may be all we have.

Theme Music

Say Hey! - Michael Franti & Spearhead <--- Click, por favor!

If I had to pick one song to be playing somewhere in my vicinity at all times, I think I would choose this one. It's just impossible to be Grumpy Gary while listening to this song. You could have just fallen from an overloaded melon truck onto a vendor stand selling only pointy doodads and "clearance sale" vegetables after stubbing your toe on an exposed nail, which ultimate caused your plummet from the melon truck in the first place. You'd be pretty pissed. But then this song would play and people would start dancing and you'd smile despite yourself and go "Aw, well jeez, at least I didn't have to walk here," then you'd start to wiggle a little bit yourself.

At least, that's what I'd do.