Like almost every millennial out there, I also tend to lean
towards the liberal sort of thinking - the usual civil and amenable principles
of equality for all, pro-choice, anti-violence and such. I don't necessarily
get into a deep debate over it with everyone. Nor do I post what I feel about
every darn thing to happen all over the world. I have people like that on my Facebook;
I cringe at the sight of their lofty phrases and holier-than-thou statements
about racism, fascisms, sexism and all the other 'isms. I really don't get how
you posting a scathing comment on a 9gag article or a deep righteous status
update about the malnutrition in an African country are going to solve anything
of their problems.
The thing that baffles me the most is the click-bait titles
of some of the articles shared on social media. The culprits of this crime are
mostly the usual suspects of the internet - ScoopWhoop, Cracked, CNN, FoxNews, and
AskMen etc. Their crime is that they bombard your feed with so much negative
and unnecessarily ghastly articles that your brain is in advertently compelled
to absorb all the negative news and bad vibes into your life and in the end you
start getting more and more bugged about the life around you.
We are all very much co-dependent in nature. We assume that
we won't be that affected by a village getting ransacked in South America. But
that registers inside of you. We assume that some wild carnivore gets poached
in Africa doesn't affect your daily life. But it really does. You see whenever
you see or know of something vile or inhumane happening around you. Some part
of your humanity stands up and takes notice. I am not a scientist; I wouldn't
what to name or define this feeling. But we have a huge capacity to empathize
with other human beings. When you see Jim Carey getting kicked repeatedly in the nards, you involuntarily cross your legs and feel a tiny weird sensation
that you'd been kicked down there.
A couple of weeks back there was a video doing the rounds
all over the Net. A rather ghastly one. A scorned lover in some part of Asia
goes to a clothing store where his ex-girl works. Gets into a heated argument
with her. Then the guy gets a knife from under his belt strap and starts
stabbing the woman. There is screaming and yelling by the customers who were
shopping around them. They all run in the other direction, trying the get as
much distance as possible from this crazed man with a knife. He goes on stabbing;
the woman is now on the floor thrashing about in vain. Some men come into the
aisle and start yelling at him. He stands up and starts to brandish his knife
around at them shouting unintelligibly. He sees that he is now surrounded by
people, gives up and takes the blade to his throat and slits it ear to ear. He
falls to the ground in a heap, blood pouring from his open throat.
Now. Could you please explain to me what can possibly be the
reason that you and I had to go witness all of that? What are we possibly
gaining by this sort of information being bombarded on us?
The world is a strange devious place with many things to
scare and disappoint you. Is there a need to add to it by clicking 'share' to
such stuff?
I have seen that video, and I cannot shred it out of my mind
anymore. It is like Daniel Pearl all over again.
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