A Life Connected

As an activist for social justice, in the middle of informing someone you’ve probably run into some folks who suddenly stop you, plug their ears, and quip, “I don’t want to know.”  I understand the “pain of knowing,” but why are some people more outraged by the sharing of the facts than of the facts themselves – shouldn’t they be outraged that injustices are happening at all?

I don’t have an answer – I’m wondering what you think…

Is there a broken or incomplete feedback loop that goes something like this, “Oh, that’s painful information >> it’s hurting me >> if I don’t hear/see it, then I won’t be in pain.”  But the painful act didn’t stop, just the awareness stopped.  What seems to be missing is ACTION.  Maybe the feedback loop could be more complete, “Oh, that’s painful information >> it’s hurting me >> because it is hurting others >> how can I stop the pain of others so that I can stop my pain?”

This would be the development of “us” – recognizing that we are all ONE, that we are interconnected, that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere (Martin Luther King, Jr.).

How do we get people to develop beyond the “me-me-me” to the “us”?

Thank you for your input!

:) matt