Spoiled rotten

Ken and I aren't really into watching the Academy Awards, although I did enjoy looking at some of the pictures of the dresses this morning. There were some that were beautiful and worn very well, but just as many that were a train wreck. The lesson we can learn from this is that being an actor is no guarantee of sartorial good sense! And bravo to Sean Penn for his comments about protesters outside the theater holding anti-gay signs:

"I'd tell them to turn in their hate card and find their better self," Penn said. "I think that these are largely taught limitations and ignorances, this kind of thing. It's really sad in a way, because it's a demonstration of such cowardice, emotional cowardice, to be so afraid of extending the same rights to your fellow man as you'd want for yourself."

Nicely said, Sean.

Anyhoo, instead of watching the show, we settled in to watch a movie, one from the stacks. We generally lean towards sheer entertainment, whether horror, action, or comedy. We went serious this time, and watched "Blood Diamond" with Leonardo DiCaprio. Yes, it's from 2006, and yes, we get really behind on our movies. We hope to watch "Slumdog Millionaire" by 2011!

Wow, I loved it, and thought it was very well done. But it was so disturbing and made me so angry to see the killings and horror that take place every day in our world. We complain about our politicians, the economy, our jobs, the weather, the price of gasoline and groceries. These are not invalid, because this is our world as we know it, and it's becoming a struggle for way too many. But most of us have a roof over our heads, and we're not starving. We also don't have to deal with armed soldiers coming into our towns and raping the women and girls, then shooting everyone down in the street. We don't watch as grenades are thrown at our Main Street businesses, or as missiles are launched at apartment buildings. We generally don't have to worry about being shot in the head as we go about our daily business, or wonder if we'll be able to drive to the next town over without being accosted by soldiers. And we don't have to sit back, helpless, as soldiers tear our families apart and take our children to be brainwashed and indoctrinated into a life of murder and bloodshed.

A few years ago at the lab, one of our students was from Rwanda. I liked Eugene immediately, and he was one of my favorite students. As he began to understand the workup of cultures, the pathway we take to identify organisms, I could tell that he was really excited about it. I'll never forget his big smile as he said to me, "I am learning! I am really learning!" (Those were the moments I loved.) Eugene went on to become an employee, and he is one of the kindest, gentlest, sweetest people I've ever known. (If any of my former coworkers are reading this, please give Eugene a hug from me, okay?) When I learned that much of Eugene's family was slaughtered in the Rwanda genocide, it hit me so hard...here was this great guy who had the most beautiful smile, and used it often, despite the horrors he had gone through.

As a society in general, we are very spoiled. We bitch because we can't afford our daily latte, or because we can't swing our usual movie night because it costs $50 to load up on all that yummy movie theater junk food. I'm not intending to come across as holier-than-thou, because I'm as big a consumer as anyone else. But I do try to remember how fortunate I am that I was born where I was and to have had the opportunities that I've been given.

There are obviously those in our society who we are letting fall through the cracks, and it has to stop. Everyone deserves a chance. Eugene was able to come here and get his degree, and he and his wife are raising their boys here. Who knows what he would have faced if he'd stayed in Rwanda? People want to come here for a reason. There is hope here, a knowledge that we can do whatever we set out to do. Or at least there used to be. We seemed to have lost it for a while, but maybe we're getting a little bit of it back. After all, the son of an African immigrant can become President. It's true!

If anyone thinks that we should become more isolationist and focus on our own problems rather than anyone else's, I can understand why you might feel that way. After all, we've got plenty of work to do in our own country. However, I disagree. We definitely need to TCB here at home, but President Obama spoke of America once again being a beacon of hope to those around the world, and I believe we need to get back to that. The last resort of intervention should be military force; our greatest achievements in diplomacy can come with humanitarian aid. Many people think nothing of paying $4 for a coffee or a few bucks for a big fat apple fritter (that one was for you, Marty!). Why is it so hard to give $10 for a mosquito net that could save an African family from succumbing to malaria? I believe it is our moral obligation as human beings to help our fellow man, whether it's here at home or halfway around the world.

I feel like I'm all over the place with this entry, but I hope I'm making at least a little bit of sense. It's so easy to sit here in our complacency and forget about what is happening in other places. We cannot afford to become an isolationist country. While I don't want us to become the world's police force, either, we do have a duty to lead and provide aid along with our friends and allies. We are the haves. We should help the have-nots. Seems pretty simple to me.

I know this is getting long, but one of the things that really got to me in "Blood Diamond" was the young boy that was taken away from his father, brainwashed (including the use of drugs), and forced to fight. It made me think of Sting's song "Children's Crusade." While that song is about WWI, I think it works for anyone who is appalled to see young people cut down in the bloom of youth, sacrificing themselves for war. Lyrics first, then video.

Children's Crusade

Young men, soldiers, Nineteen Fourteen
Marching through countries they'd never seen
Virgins with rifles, a game of charades
All for a Children's Crusade

Pawns in the game are not victims of chance
Strewn on the fields of Belgium and France
Poppies for young men, death's bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed

The children of England would never be slaves
They're trapped on the wire and dying in waves
The flower of England face down in the mud
And stained in the blood of a whole generation

Corpulent generals safe behind lines
History's lessons drowned in red wine
Poppies for young men, death's bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed
All for a Children's Crusade

The children of England would never be slaves
They're trapped on the wire and dying in waves
The flower of England face down in the mud
And stained in the blood of a whole generation

Midnight in Soho, Nineteen Eighty-four
Fixing in doorways, opium slaves
Poppies for young men, such bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed
All for a Children's Crusade