Something I find most remarkable these days is the number of causes there are out there. Think about it. I’m going to try and list some of them. These are by no means exhaustive and all inclusive and the order has no bearing on their importance or hierarchy in my own life or otherwise.
men, women, children - handicapped, war veterans, refugees, displaced, abused, old age, victims of natural disasters
environmental issues - endangered species, scarcity of natural resources, pollution, climate change, global warming, recycling
socio-cultural-political issues - socialism, civil rights, abortion, euthanasia, breast-feeding, drug abuse, smoking, alcoholism, AIDS, cancer, poverty, prostitution, discrimination, death penalty, violence, war, health, homosexuality, genocide, ethnic cleansing, diabetes
There are tons more. They are all further divided and sub-divided. So what happens when ‘the cause’ or the ‘campaign’ reaches a positive conclusion or even worse begins to look like it will never reach a favourable end? Will it be time to take on a new, more worthy ‘cause’? What if I don’t want to be affiliated to any cause? Is it ok to be totally cause-less?
Here’s a hilarious video of the post-Obama cause!
I like the sub-text of the critique hidden in the comments accompanying the video.
The whole idea of a life withous collective group 'causes' is almost unfathomable in this communicative era of overstimulation and non-stop verbal interaction. If you want to simply be alive is that a cause to believe in? Of course it is...Let's start the, 'I want to stay alive' cause. Or is this an idea we don't need to group together for? What about suicidal people? They wouldn't join anyway...
ReplyDeleteIs the solitary monk meditating in a cave for seven long years part of a cause? Is his or her cause the cause of detachment? If you're truly detached from society, wouldn't you be detached from causes like detachment? Ha! :-)