This isn't my typical fare. This is something else entirely - something that I saw that I can't get out of my head. Something that I'm hesitant to even share because I don't think people are ready for it. But something that I think people need to see simply because they're not ready for it. I warn you, this is graphic, unsettling, and has the potential to ruin your day. I'm not sharing this because grossing you out gives me pleasure; I'm sharing this because it's something you've almost certainly never seen before, and I think it's necessary that you see it.
I've seen plenty of gross shit on the internet before. This may not even be the worst thing I've seen, but it's a sobering reminder that the world is not full of kittens and rainbows. I comment often on Americans' preoccupation with entertainment and pop culture at the expense of world issues (hell, at the expense of American issues). I have railed the media often for propping up royal baby news or scandalous VMA performances over institutionalized government spying and perpetual, economy-devastating acts of war. On some subconscious level we all KNOW that there are parts of the world that live in squalor, whether due to poor economies, education, political unrest, or all of the above. But where the media has failed us entirely is that we have been completely sheltered from the harsh realities of what life is really like elsewhere. We're coddled by the people we pay to entertain us. They water things down into a morsel that can be more easily digested so we can get back to buying things. "Hey, consumer, look how miserable things are in this country that you couldn't point to on a map if you tried. See? Your life is pretty great, isn't it? Buy a Coke!"
I don't know the full story behind this video. I don't know if this should be blamed on the Syrian government or on the rebels. I don't know if our government and our soldiers have a moral imperative to intervene. This isn't about Obama or Democrats or Republicans. It's not even about God, gods, or religion.
This is about humanity. My Facebook feed is flooded with thoughts about politics, racism, and economic musings. When I see a video like this, I don't give a shit how many illegal immigrants are living in the US. I couldn't care less that welfare queens are living off my tax dollars, and I could live the rest of my life without hearing about race relations in America. Children are getting shot in the head for a war they couldn't possibly understand, and people here are up in arms about how the government pays for health care? When I see this video, I think that everything, absolutely everything that people complain about in life is secondary to the idea that humans can still do this to one another.
Some people are going to click play and then turn the video off. Some are going to skip the video altogether. I think that if fellow humans are being forced to live these conditions, we should have the fortitude to witness it. Watching this video evokes a range of emotions I didn't know I had. As unsettling as it is, I think it's important to see imagery like this. It should be public and it shouldn't be censored. When the news shows us a building blown up from afar, we don't see the real human cost of war. If we see more videos like this, we would likely think twice before supporting wars of any kind.
I need to watch this video to remind myself that my problems are insignificant. I need to watch this video to remind me that I am human.
