Call to Action, or Sing to Action?
Lauren Breuer
De Cal'Si
Sometimes a scream isn’t enough. Sometimes the agony and stress we endure, we make seem normal in our day to day lives. We make excuses for why our lives are the way they are especially if we are unhappy with them. I ask, why though? Why are we so numb to the feeling of pain, emotional distress, being unsatisfied? I believe that we fuel that energy into our opinions about horrible life circumstances that seem to get worse and worse that aren’t necessarily correlated directly to us. For instance, suffering.
ETHICALLY EXPOSED
Talking to you from a “normal” consumer perspective, “I love dogs, I grew up with them…” yatta yatta yatta… we have all heard that sentence come out of the mouths of millions before. But my questions is, when we know the suffering dogs go through, such as dog fighting, abuse, starvation, sexual assault, why do just give them our one thought of “love” but continue to let the situation thrive on in-action?
Personally, I think this is something we have all become numb to as well because so many people think that they as one individual will not make an impact. And the only reason why that proves to be more true than it really is, is because so many people have adopted that thought process, making everyone in the world not eager to try and stand up for something they love, or ones they believe in. Instead, they “donate” to a cause that essentially is so desensitized from its meaning and from their mind that they think they’re doing good, but they don’t actually know what they are contributing to. (I am not saying everyone, but I am saying a lot).
For example, we all see the famous ASPCA commercial, some turn it off, some look away, others donate. But when you donate, do you know what you are actually supporting, or are you just completing the action to justify you moving on with your life?
I contemplate this all the time, because I often feel that so many people are tuned into the harsh realities of the world and attempt to change it, but then I am reminded of the ones who just complete an action to make themselves feel better (such as donating), or better yet, don’t do anything. The world and industries alike have all created this donation button for us to help them in a very easy manner, it was great. We all understand, you may have work, or other obligations, whatever the case may be that you can’t give anything except money to a cause you are so called passionate about, but the word “donate” is like “cruelty free” people are used to it being thrown around all of the time, that when it is used, and supposed to seem powerful, it lacks its once known lust. It is helpful to an extent, but this also encourages a lack of education on the topic.
I talk about animals because I love them, but for you, maybe using animals in examples isn’t impactful. Maybe it’s a human family member who is struggling with something, and you donate to the cause. That is great, because yes it is helping the cause, but making more of what you have access to, i.e., suffering, is what makes something very monumental. I am not saying suffering is good, it is most definitely not, but if you can’t do anything physically to help suffering, and we eliminate donating
your money to a cause, what’s left? What else can you do?
It’s important for us to exercise our minds and make relevance of what we do and its purpose. There is no reason or explanation that you can give behind having a very strong opinion and not do anything about it. If your mind is on a level of speaking up, then you should have a concept or some sort of plan behind what you are saying to back it all up. If you don’t, then simply donate… again, this isn’t a bad thing, but it has become grouped into the category of “Over Used Terms.”
We all have the power of the voice, whether it is through writing, sign language, speaking, singing, dancing, etc., we have that ability, so why let it go to waste?
If you have something on your mind, speak to it! Talk to people, embrace the potential for change in the world. It’s possible, but you have to know and believe that as well.