Contrast and privilege, citizenship of Spaceship Earth
Two events led me to consider today’s post.
*I read an article that had me consider whether I should remain invested in being a change agent. The article suggested that by focusing our effort on the world, we might well be ignoring the very people who are close to us, and that maybe it is better to focus our love at home. For some, this is true. We cannot ignore the interiors of either ourselves or our family.
*I heard a story about the street kids in a part of the world- kids that have essentially been discarded by society.
Contrast. Here am I, highly educated, well-connected, able-bodied. All around me, literally, are kids and adults who have not had the same privilege as I. Their start in life has been a mix of hunger, neglect, poverty, addictions, abuse. I cannot imagine life like that. I cannot imagine the limited capacity these people have to change their circumstances, both their interior and exterior circumstances.
Privilege. Am I better than these people? No. Not at all. I was lucky to be born into a life that allowed me the opportunity to develop in a reasonably healthy and advanced way.
Which raised the question. If I truly honour the privilege of my circumstance, the luck of my birth, does this mean that I have a responsibility to help support opportunities for people far less fortunate than I to have different life choices?
For me, the answer is a resounding yes. No matter what the action, I have the ability and the capacity to support a world where no humans (and animals) are discarded. Just to be clear, I am not talking about the arrogance of ‘saving the poor’ people with my superiority. I am talking about creating genuine opportunities and environments for all people to escape the cycle of abuse, poverty, addiction, hunger. To not do so somehow violates the fortune of my birthright. I think it also calls into conscious awareness the act of citizenship. Citizenship of Spaceship Earth. I am clear that each person born to privilege has their own way of expressing this kind of citizenship. There is no right way. Only the way that resonates deeply within.
