Lafayette recently published an article in their Summer 2012 magazine highlighting the 2nd annual TEDxlaf conference, at which I was a guest speaker.
Niccole Rivero '12, an international affairs major, recalled her four life-changing months observing the aftermath of civil war in Africa. She spent time in a Rwanda community where genocide widows raise children and crops with the wives of their husbands' killers. "Peace is more important than power," said Rivero, president of the student chapter of Amnesty International. "It shouldn't take a genocide to learn that love is the answer."
- "Turbo-Charging Global Citizenship: TEDxlaf Showcases Radical Ideas About Energy, Identity, and Empathy" by Geoff Gehman '80, Lafayette Magazine Summer 2012
You can read the full transcript of my talk, titled "Hate and Hope: How the Darkest Place on Earth Restored my Faith in Humanity," by clicking HERE.
Being part of TEDxlaf was such an amazing experience. As described on TEDxlaf's facebook:
The goal of the foundation [TED] is to foster the spread of great ideas. It
aims to provide a platform for the world's smartest thinkers, greatest
visionaries and most-inspiring teachers, so that millions of people can
gain a better understanding of the biggest issues faced by the world,
and a desire to help create a better future. Core to this goal is a
belief that there is no greater force for changing the world than a
powerful idea.
So go watch a few TEDtalks or read mine. Share in the spread of great ideas that might someday change the world.
The genocide did not kill a million people in Rwanda.
It killed ONE.
One person with hopes, dreams, and plans for a brighter future than the one their parents imagined.
One person with a family, maybe a few kids or one on the way, with friends and neighbors and people who loved him. Whom he loved just as much.
It stole one person's father... or brother... or daughter.
Just one person.
And then another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
And another... one million times over.
In our warring, chaotic world, we are constantly bombarded with death tolls and casualty statistics, and we no longer feel the loss. We've somehow misplaced an essential part of ourselves, the true human regret that comes from understanding that people in our world, people just like us, are dying for no other crime than being born into an unfortunate circumstance... the universe's large-scale and terribly cruel wrong-place-wrong-time scenario.
Each human life is meant to be a celebration of everything this world has to offer. But when the universe has other plans, when evil men devise wicked schemes to upset the balance of peace and justice, terrible tragedies are inflicted upon us. But we no longer feel the loss. Somehow we've lost our empathy, our ability to imagine ourselves into another man's life and feel his pain.
Genocides, wars, terrorism, uprisings... no matter how many statistics you read, how many sound bytes you hear chronicling the latest list of casualties, remember this:
That number accounts for a multitude of individuals. Single drops in an immense ocean of gone-too-soons.
The genocide in Rwanda, the war in Iraq, the Holocaust, the Arab Spring... none of them stole an abstract and meaningless number.
Just one. Over and over and over again until we somehow lost our humanity.
At Oreanda they sat on a seat not far from the church, looked down at the sea, and were silent. Yalta was hardly visible through the morning mist; white clouds stood motionless on the mountain-tops. The leaves did not stir on the trees, grasshoppers chirruped, and the monotonous hollow sound of the sea rising up from below spoke of the peace, of the eternal sleep awaiting us.
So it must have sounded when there was no Yalta, no Oreanda here; so it sounds now, and it will sound as indifferently and monotonously when we are all no more. And in this constancy, in this complete indifference to the life and death of each of us there lies hid, perhaps, a pledge of our eternal salvation, of the unceasing movement of life upon earth, of unceasing progress towards perfection.
Sitting beside a young woman who in the dawn seemed so lovely, soothed and spellbound in these magical surroundings - the sea, the mountains, the open sky - Gurov thought how in reality everything is beautiful in this world when one reflects, everything except what we think or do ourselves when we forget our human dignity and the higher aims of our existence.
They are a tradition that has stood the test of time. The best athletes in the world compete for their country's honor, with the pride of the nation and the respect of the world resting upon their shoulders. It truly is a glorious spectacle.
I marvel at the nuance surrounding the Olympics that is truly impossible to ignore. Countries at war and countries at peace marking their place in the history books, uniting under the guise of sport and letting the politics, the casualties, and the bad blood fall to the wayside, if only for a few days. The games are true proof that we can be united.
We are living in tumultuous times and the world... its a'changin. Wars are being fought, uprisings are growing stronger, and the mudslinging has only just begun. All our differences are being shoved in our faces and made impossible to ignore, and sometimes it can be really difficult to think there might be any hope in sight.
And yet... around the world, people are glued to television sets and radios, whether they be in our cozy homes or be the only one in the entire village. We watch, listen, and wait. The Olympics, somehow, bring us all together. They remind us what we hope for. They let us believe again. Triumph and greatness are possible... no matter where you come from.
Without heroes, we are all plain people and don't know how far we can go.
-Bernard Malamud
This all reminds me of a FIFA commerical from the 2010 World Cup days. It struck me, because it said all the things we need to hear about world events such as the World Cup and the Olympics, when we put all our fears and fights aside and focus on one thing that, against all odds, unites us.
Its not about politics or religion or the economy.
Its not about borders, history, trade, oil, water, gas,
mineral rights, human rights, or animal rights.
Its not about global warming, global pandemics,
globalization, GDP, NATO, or Kyoto.
Its not about elections, sanctions, proliferations,
he-said, she-said, my land, your land, no-man's land.
Its not about the stock market, black market,
orange alerts, green homes, hope, change, fear, or loathing.
Its not about communism, socialism, or capitalism. War or peace. Love or hate.
This is about the one month, every four years, when we all agree on ONE THING.
Here we are again, July 4th. A day that we mark on our calendars as a day to celebrate everything this country stands for, everything it has achieved, and the values that hold it up.
Recently I have found myself wondering, even more than usual, what America really means. The land of the free, the home of the brave, and everything in between. With the Presidential election fast approaching and the values, morals, and attitudes of this country coming under intense scrutiny, I can't help but wonder if we, as a collective, truly embody all the ideals we claim to uphold.
I recently happened upon a new HBO series titled "The Newsroom," a fictional telling of the behind-the-scenes life of a news program, and the opening dialogue is what caught my attention. In the following scene, partially transcribed below, three newscasters are part of a panel discussion at a university. When asked what makes America the "greatest country in the world," the protagonist delivers an answer that embodies the hard truth we all need to swallow about what America has become:
College Girl: Can you say in one sentence or less, uhm, you know what I mean... can you say why America is the greatest country in the world?
Answer 1: Diversity and opportunity.
Answer 2: Freedom and freedom, so let's keep it that way.
Answer 3: The New York Jets. Diversity and oppotunity. Freedom and freedom.
Well, our Constitution is a masterpiece, James Madison was a genius. The Declaration of Independence is, for me, the single greatest piece of American writing.
You don't look satisfied.
It's NOT the greatest country in the world, Professor, that's my answer.
And with a straight face you're going to tell students that America is so star-spangled awesome that we're the only ones in the world that have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. 207 sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.
Just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day there's some things you should know, and one of them is there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world.
We're 7th in literacy,
27th in math,
22nd in science,
49th in life expectancy,
178th in infant mortality,
3rd in median household income,
number 4 in labor force,
and number 4 in exports.
We lead the world in only three categories:
number of incarcerated citizens per capita,
number of adults who believe angels are real,
and defense spending, where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined... 25 of whom are allies.
Now none of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you nonetheless and without a doubt are a member of the worst period generation period ever period. So when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about.
It sure used to be.
We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons. We passed laws, struck down laws for moral reasons.
We waged wars on poverty, not poor people.
We sacrificed. We cared about our neighbors. We put our money where our mouths were and we never beat our chest.
We built great big things. Made ungodly technological advances. Explored the universe. Cured diseases. And we cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy.
We reached for the stars. Acted like men. We aspired to intelligence, we didn't belittle it... it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election and we didn't, ahh, we didn't scare so easy.
We were able to do all these things and be all these things because we were informed by great men, men who were revered.
The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.
Enough?
This is certainly a notion that is both difficult to hear and difficult to argue against. The world has changed. The American people have changed. Our ideals, our values, our morals, all the things we symbolically celebrate on the 4th of July... have changed.
So as we celebrate this July 4th, as we revel in the company of family and friends, we should indeed be thankful for everything America is and has been. This country has afforded many of us grand opportunities, but our collective ego has clouded our vision. We could be so much more... if only we remembered everything we used to stand for: equality, opportunity, and liberty. Along this bumpy road of progress and change, we have somehow lost our way, fighting for power instead of the powerless and coveting money and influence rather than our strength of character. Although we may have lost our way, stumbling through mine fields of war and politics, one thing we have never lost is our truly great potential.
