:: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 ::

The News

I have a strong belief that it's everyone's responsibility to read the news - or at least stay aware of what's going on in the world. But sometimes, it just makes me want to kill myself.

The more I learn about current events, the environment, the way we treat ourselves, animals, our land and oceans, etc, the more ashamed I am to be a human being.

Today I read about Luna, the stranded L-pod Orca near Gold River. Only four years old, he's been alone and stuck up there for two years now. That's half of his lifetime. He's now pretty tame and spends time hanging around the docks expressing his boredom by knocking around boats and trying to attract human attention. And what do people do? Do they try to reunite him with his pod? Do they try to lure him back out to sea? Do they do anything? No. The government decides to "wait and see." For two years. TWO YEARS. And now, they've cut the funding for the group that watches him. Now that group has to rely soley on volunteers to deal with the 200 or so people who come daily to see him (or pet him, or hit him, or pour beer down his throat).

I'm sorry, I know this is a very old story, but I had never heard of it before. Which I also think is sort of sad, considering the amount of news watching and reading that I do.

And to think, earlier today I was getting mad at people for not realizing that their dishsoap hurts the whales. Now I find out people, given the opportunity, beat them with sticks and pour beer down their throats? ARE PEOPLE REALLY THIS STUPID?

Sometimes I really hate the world.

Sometimes I want to throw in the towel. Hang out smoking cigarettes, buying clothing made by 7 year old kids earning 10 cents a day, drinking Starbucks coffee and washing everything in my house liberally with non-biodegradable soap. Toss chlorine bleach into our rivers, club a baby seal, stew up some napalm on my kitchen stove, tie it with a pretty bow and send it through Canada Post to some country that is 'threatening' us by having the gall to embrace a different political ideology than our own.

Well, not really. Caring is still tiring though.

And then I realise there are also many people who make me proud to be a human being... I mean, I don't see any of my friends whacking Orcas with planks.

So you can't make the bad good. So what? You can't make the good bad either. I guess you can only make yourself one way or the other. So do that instead, and stop worrying about everyone else, right? Maybe not... but I have to, or I'll make myself crazy.

This week, anyway.


~song~ Collective Soul - The World I Know

:: Katy 1:10 a.m. [+] :: ::