GLOBAL SHMOBAL

Today was the 40th anniversary of the massacre in Tiananmen Square. Remember that famous photo of the young, Chinese protester standing defiantly in front of a tank? Do you remember those 200 girls who were kidnapped in Nigeria a couple weeks ago? The media stopped covering the story and nobody talks about them anymore. CNN has even stopped reporting about the missing Malaysian passenger jet. Is Russia and that James Bond villain, Put in still occupying the Ukraine? Who knows? Who really cares?
What is it about global news that evokes such apathy from the average American? Are we selfish and heartless? Certainly these are pressing issues which should concern us all. We all occupy this ever - shrinking planet and if you believe in the Butterfly Effect, then you have to know that what happens on the opposite side of the globe will eventually impact us all in some way.
World hunger, genocide, AIDS, and global warming. These are all legitimate issues which we need to be aware of and try to eliminate.
The painful reality, however, is that the average American has a hard enough time just making it through the day than worrying about what is going on in some foreign land. It is hard to be incensed by world hunger when you are a single mother, working for minimum wage, trying to feed her kids. It is hard to be concerned about global warming when you are a father of four who has to put gas in his tank so he can drive to the coal plant an hour from his home. And it is hard to worry about AIDS and genocide when you are a student who can't afford to go to a decent college so you can learn to create solutions to make the world a better place.
It's easy for millionaires like Bono, George Clooney and Angelina Jolie to crusade for these noble causes. And hats off to billionaires like Bill Gates who fighting the good fight. But for we mortals here on earth, we all feel a little too overwhelmed and powerless to pitch in right now. So, keep up the good work. But we're too busy drowning to throw anyone else a life preserver.