Don’t mind me, I’m a cynic
I flipped through VH1 this morning on my way to ESPN2. Nickelback’s “If Everyone Cared” had just started up, and I stopped to appreciate the music and laugh at the message. The video shows three examples of “caring” that, in typical fashion, end up not really meaning jack.
First up, we have Bob Geldof. The big item for him is organizing LiveAid back in 1985 to raise $100 million for famine relief. Great, isn’t it? Sure it is. Congratulations on doing so much do fix the problem, Bobby!
Then, we get Betty Williams, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for saying “Hey, don’t hurt people” in the middle of Northern Ireland in 1976. Really quite breathtaking. Also very successful, as can be seen by the fact that over 30 years later there seems to be peace in Northern Ireland. There may be little to no causation tied to the fact that she moved to the US in 1982 and got out of the way. Not content to rest on her laurels, she recently said “Violence is ok if it’s against George Bush” (ok, I paraphrased that). Glad to see she’s so consistent.
Finally, there’s Amnesty International. I’m pretty much going to throw out Moynihan’s Law and leave it there. It’s pretty easy to criticize the people who won’t throw you in jail or beat you up for saying something stupid. “Hey, the Jews don’t cut off peoples’ heads, let’s do a story on Israel! Boy I feel good now!”
So, back to the original question: “What if everyone cared?” Well duh, shit wouldn’t happen. In order for that to happen though, you’d have to reprogram what it means to be human and we can all enjoy the “luxuries” of the Hive-Mind.
I think. Updates soon? ish?