14 DAY TRIAL // Taking the tram in the evening, I look at men and women as they return from work (key account manager, engineer, foreman etc), staring down, caught in their daily worries ("Did I pay the bills?", "Do I have enough money to put my kid through college?" and so on).
I look around, discretely, without drawing any attention, and see a noisy group of teenagers discussing their own problems; boys are making dirty jokes, girls are monkeying around; their problems don't have anything to do with making ends meet. For this age group, the problems revolve around other issues ("Does she love me?", "Ohh, I have a zit!", and other teenage dilemmas). They don't care.
I start to think that despite the age differences, everyone focuses on their own problems and that they are usually more selfish than they realize. Disasters, conflicts and cataclysms go by, but in today's world, all that matters is "for me and my family to be ok."
I doubt there are many who take a minute and think about global warming and the problems casting a shadow over mankind's very own existence on Earth, the nuclear threat in the Middle East, where Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls for the destruction of Israel and claims he has the right to possess nuclear technology, the latest cataclysms: the Pakistan earthquake that killed 80.000 people, the tsunami triggered by an earthquake which caused the Earth to vibrate a few centimeters and the suicide bombings in Iraq where hundreds have lost their lives and the people buried alive under tons of mud on the Java island while relatives and neighbors were watching in horror.
There have been many times when I heard an interesting concept, even from people in the media: ?We are not interested in the subject. As long as it doesn't affect us, I couldn't care less". This is what everything breaks down to. As long as the individual is not directly affected, it doesn't matter.
The excessive amounts of precipitations caused by global warming have led to widespread flooding, and for that, we are all responsible. But this is not stopping us from going on with our lives. As long as it happens to others, everything will be ok.
Michael Moore illustrated this type of behavior very well in his movie Fahrenheit 9/11. In one of the scenes, an American mother describes with pride how she pushed her son into going to Iraq and fighting for the country and she lambastes those who protested against the war waged by George W. Bush. The next scenes show the bombardments carried out by the US army against the Iraqis and images of victims and soldiers listening to music. Then, the director presents the moment when she gets the news that her son was killed in combat and that the army regrets it. The woman is now furious and she doesn't understand why her son had to die in a stupid war, whose purpose is beyond her understanding.
It's a perfect example of the ignorance of humans towards their peers. The pain suffered by the family is indisputable, but unfortunately, the principle which guides us in life is crystal clear: "As long as it doesn't influence me or my family, everything is perfect, our president is great and my country's the best."
In order for mankind to understand some lessons from the past mistakes which occurred in our history, it would take a superior intellectual effort than that involved in reading the world section in the newspaper or viewing shocking footage on the TV set.
Unfortunately, it's unlikely that we will ever reach that level of understanding and that we will be able to avoid conflicts and animosities.
Without realizing it, while carefully observing the men and women on the tram and thinking about our ignorance, I notice a one-eyed old vagrant with ragged clothes emanating a disgusting smell of urine, who had difficulty breathing, making his way towards a man and asking him for directions. Disgusted, the man looks out the window and ignores him. The old vagrant then looks around trying to find someone who could help him out and sees me. Noticing his stare, I realize he has made his choice. He embarks on the same difficult journey of moving until he's about 30 centimeters away from me. A foul, indescribable smell hits my nostrils, but because I want to be different from the others and I want to help out the man, I resist heroically.
I get off relieved and think for a moment at what this poor man has to endure, but I quickly chase away the thought. "After all, what do I care?"
