Statistics

     Today, one of our COVID-19 fatalities involved a one - year - old baby girl. She was the youngest in the country to have passed away because of the pandemic. I understand that she was not the first infant ever, but regardless, I felt a pang of shock and sadness that I can't explain. The minute I had alone time today after hearing the news, I broke down in tears and felt extremely terrible. My mind drifted from thought to thought to thought, and as a result, it just made everything much worse for me. 

    When it comes to babies and children affected by any calamity in this world, be it war, famine, poverty or disease, the kind of sadness and helplessness that takes over me is of a very different kind. We're talking children and babies here ;; extremely young , special and precious individuals who had no knowledge about the world that they've been brought into. No knowledge about exactly who the unjust people are who have placed them , their families and their nations in such calamities. No knowledge about the kind of sadness that affects other people because of this. No knowledge about how powerless the oppressed are. They know nothing , and , already by nature very vulnerable , are born into a life of danger and can be unjustly taken away from life altogether. Some people long to have children , and some children long to have parents and families , yet their desire - their right - is being denied because their lives are deemed unworthy by the unjust. 

    Meanwhile, you've got the people who are privileged . Privileged enough to have what these children and oppressed individuals don't have ; a family, safety , protection and their rights being a priority. These kinds of people conjure a completely different kind of anger in me. The kind of anger that does not require me to run away just to calm myself down. It's the kind of anger that makes me want to shake some sense into them and question why they haven't done anything. These privileged individuals are most likely among the unjust. Most likely live with the same unjust people stripping away the rights of the oppressed and the children of the oppressed. They've got all kinds of resources to find out exactly what the unjust are doing to these people, yet they don't bother with that. They don't bother to see exactly what their struggles are. They don't bother to be generous, since their only main priority is just themselves. For every death caused by the unjust that they may heard of, to them, they are merely statistics that have absolutely nothing to do with their lives whatsoever. They're just huge numbers you would see on the news, and they'd only see it for what it is ;; huge numbers, rather than people in a calamity. That's how deaf, dumb and blind they are. 

    The youth among the privileged - some, at least - are no different either. No doubt about it, social media plays a huge role in our daily lives. It has affected our lives in both positive and negative ways. Among the negative ways, the hypocrisy and stupidity of certain individuals have been laid bare. They say to have faith in our youth and our next generation since they seem to care about their futures in a way no older politician or government has. While this is true, with many such youths like Greta Thunberg bringing awareness to climate change and whatnot, I must confess, I have no faith. I absolutely do not. I hope I am wrong to, though. 

    We live in a generation all about social media nowadays. Most likely, we get our news on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc... While this is good and also helps keep people informed, the way Instagram, Facebook and Twitter are designed is such that fake and biased news can be easily circulated. We spend most of our time on social media trying to portray a false "perfect picture" of ourselves, whether it's done in an attempt to make us look smarter, prettier or more politically "woke." I have no faith exactly because of this. For every issue in this world, from Black Lives Matter, to the Yemen conflict, to the Palestine - Israel conflict and to the Beirut explosion, it has been reduced to a single, meaningless hashtag that is supposedly used to express solidarity for the affected individuals. It makes everything look like a fun trend to follow, and the minute people stop seeing it on their stories or posts from the people they follow, they immediately forget about the issue altogether. Meanwhile, the oppressed are still being oppressed. Children are still sick and dying everyday, but because it's not a "popular" hashtag anymore, people have stopped talking about it and have not bothered to take action. All they've done is hopped on the wagon and post the hashtags just because everyone else seems to. This is why I don't have faith. 

    Meanwhile, it must be understood that not all hope is lost. There are people in this world trying their very hardest. Dedicated humanitarian workers with the dreams of making a serious, true difference in this world. Dedicated and sincere youths hoping to do the same when their time comes. This is something I personally find extremely hard to remind myself of, given the state of the world and the excessive stupidity among people nowadays. However, this remains the truth, and I hope for nothing more than to be of those that will inform and help by making a serious, true difference.