DiHuh

2011: The year of revolutions

“They hear constantly of the great social maladjustment, but no way is provided for them to change it, and their uselessness hangs about them heavily.”

-Jane Addams

It’s strange to think that the new year just barely began, and suddenly, there was a great surge of political change within the Middle East. As a history student, it’s fascinating and a bit foreboding. As a person, it really breaks my heart.

I was very conflicted about what happened in Egypt. I felt as if everyone was claiming democracy without realizing that it’s an ideal, not necessarily an institution. And I hated how people were dying for it. I hated that all this corruption went on without me grasping the magnitude of that corruption. I hated that I didn’t even care until these terrible things started happening. I hated how I couldn’t do anything. And I remember that I cried like a little girl on my bus back to campus at the aftermath of the Egyptian revolution. I was more remorseful at the casualties than joyful at their victory. Seeing it happen all over again, on a grander, more brutal scale in Libya is even more heart-wrenching.

If there’s one good thing that happened to me as I observed these events unfold, it’s that I regained my humanity. In the past, I would gloss over the parts on war in my textbooks, not grasping the magnitude of the amount of human loss. But now I realize that I am not alone on an island. I am not a single person acting outside of the world. I am a part of this world and what happens to every single person out there, happens to me. A philosopher once said that our actions represent the actions of all mankind, and we are buried under that weight. We are responsible to carry that burden.

I know that many of us were not even aware of these countries before today, but I hope that these events of history will help us all embrace our humanity, and become good representatives of mankind.