i watched 'hotel rwanda' last night. i stayed up way too late and exhausted myself, but i just had to finish it.

this stuff happens, IS happening, and here we are, still going about our business day to day. sometimes i cannot fall asleep because i lie in bed and think "right now, someone is freezing somewhere in deplorable conditions, or someone is being subjected to unspeakable violence--or right now someone is in agony, dying from a disease that is fully preventable, and while all of that is probably happening at this very moment to men and women, it is also happening to little children--at this very moment, somewhere in the world." and here i am, in bed, warm and cozy, next to my kids and i look at them and my heart nearly explodes, and it all gets magnified, and i nearly go nuts trying to understand not just why these things happen, but why i cannot feel empowered to do something. which is sort of the point of the movie. we did nothing. but who is 'we?' -- how does one do something when governments (not just the usa) are enacting policies that either cause the social conditions that lead to desperation, or they perpetuate the desperation for their own (our own?) gain, or they simply do not provide the only sort of help that might stop a crisis that is out of control. from the movie, it appears that the only thing that might have stopped the genocide in rwanda was military intervention. perhaps there were many other things that could have been accomplished prior to the moment of crisis, and perhaps military intervention would not have prevented later conflict, but it probably would have prevented the slaughter. And there was no help on the sort of large international level that was necessary. I know this touches upon the complexities of international relations and politics and blah blah blah, and I certainly am in no position to evaluate if such action would have been in the united states’ best interests or britain’s best interests, or belgium’s best interests, but that is not my point. My point is that since governments only act in their best interests, how do we manage to prevent/assist/arrest crises that do not fall into that category, when the way to do so inevitably relies upon resources that often only governments can provide (like an army)? It just makes me feel helpless. (Note that I am avoiding the rather pertinent example of when our government and its military is the cause of suffering—that is a whole other ball of wax). And it is not just genocidal situations like Rwanda or sudan, but what I call chronic crises—illness, hunger, human rights, poverty, (hurricanes) etc. Yes, I know there is debate galore about how to best promote economic development, health care, the free market, world trade. fair trade and how that all is interconnected to food production and human rights and illness and so on—academics are incessantly evaluating these connections, and if I hear that there is “a need for a new paradigm” one more time, I think I am going to explode. FINE. Someone needs to come up with that new paradigm, and there are thousands of people trying hard to do so, and it is important, and it is pertinent, and it will be debated for years and years, but it is not changing the fact that people are suffering RIGHT NOW.

People will always suffer. I know that. There will always be poverty and violence. I know that. I am not hoping for a utopian miracle. But knowing that is not the same as resigning oneself to it.

but the question is, what works? how does one really work effectively against a system that seems to exploit and promote suffering? all of the NGOs and non-profits and development projects and peace corps and health clinics and schools still cannot stop genocide or hunger or poverty or torture or violence when there is a powerful government or group that wants such a crisis. clearly these groups provide help. I am not suggesting that they do not. but they have no power when it comes down to it, like the UN in Rwanda. They are an important component, but not a solution. How in the world aid workers manage to stay sane when their work in never-ending and so monumental is entirely beyond me.

Also, there is the perpetual issue of those with privilege (the haves) deciding what is in the best interests of the have-nots. The book Mountains Beyond Mountains is a good exploration of this issue.

And then of course, here I am. Not a member of an aid group, not running off to devastation to help. I have small children, and of course I am not dragging them off to some disaster. Can I give money? Yup. Is that effective? Perhaps.

So, from my clearly privileged vantage point, I am left endlessly perseverating on what actually works. I have no conclusions to speak of, but I have some thoughts.

One thought is regarding information. Which boils down to the media. Journalism, fiction, non-fiction, movies, etc. This can be rather powerful, once a critical mass has been reached. And it can be used for evil very successfully. And obviously governments fear it. It can be used for good, and has been. But people do not want to know about the crap that goes on in the world. They do not want to be bothered. How do you bridge that gap?

The other thought is regarding faith. Yes, most wars are fought over religion, at least on the surface. But if you stand back and think about it, the same power that has destroyed so many is also the same power that has been able to intervene. Clergy of all faiths appear to have leverage (and resources) that many secular groups do not. This is obviously extremely dangerous in the wrong hands, and we are struggling with so many repercussions of such abuse, both within our country and world-wide, but there are truly powerful people that have effected tremendous good in the world simply by being faithful and recognizing the light/god/divine/buddah/universe/goddess/etc in each and every person. It is easy to turn to faith for one’s own benefit or enlightenment, and while there is nothing inherently harmful in that, it is still self-centered. It is a bit harder to turn to faith in a self-effacing manner that puts the ego to rest and instead focuses on others, but those who do so are rather empowered, I think.

Perhaps therein lies the answer to my question. it seems so simple, and yet so very difficult.