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CRY ME A SYRIA
… and other atrocities undressed
Wednesday Mar. 26, 2014
Maybe I wasn’t seeing everything or maybe I wasn’t listening to the whole story.
What we see and hear does not represent the whole of anything – it is just what we see, what we hear. If we aren’t looking or if we aren’t listening, we miss so much . . .
Yet every day we make choices, decide things which have consequences, with less than a full grasp of the whole. I’m not just talking about a business decision or a shopping trip impulse purchase – because I think the same principles of behaviour fit the bone-headed things our leaders do.
We wouldn’t expect right answers adding columns of figures if items were left out, or if we hit the wrong keys on the calculator. We would know our answer was wrong – not trust it – not make decisions based on obviously wrong or incomplete information.
Why then, do we trust our own decisions – or accept the choices made by others – if we aren’t using all the data to arrive at a decision?
What choices are you making today, what big consequences decisions are you making?
Yes, even the small ones have consequences.
Do you have all the information and a clear understanding so you can make a well informed decision – or do you have parts of it.
If you only have parts, how can you make a decision without even knowing what those missing pieces will show, teach, reveal …?
The flip side of this, would be to not make decisions of any kind until we have all the answers. We (each of us or the collective ‘all of us’) are like this. Will there come a time when we look at all the information about climate change and actually do things differently? When will we recognize that sitting on our hands about Syria is not so far removed from a repetition of the Holocaust?
It seems powerful actors in the world (ie: Putin) can make decisions with impunity. Slicing off, or not, a piece of a country like Ukraine. Countries like ours (Canada) and others launch into rhetoric and sanctions.
We can rush to aid flood or hurricane victims with forces, equipment and money. Yet we stand on sidelines and watch when it is convenient, or so it seems to be.
Or maybe it always was and I didn’t notice.
Mark Kolke
198,112
column written/ published from Calgary
morning walk: -9C / 17F, light fluffy snow falling so it is treacherous walking– very calm, traffic light, Gusta went out yellow, came back coated-white. Busy day ahead .. gotta run!
Reader feedback / comments always welcome:
Hi Mark … your musing today took me back many years to when I was doing the cleaning/sorting/contacting when my dad died. So many memories in those boxes and drawers. There’s no rush to get it done …. You’ll enjoy everything so much more if you don’t have to rush it. Did you take the eyeglasses to the Lions Eye Bank … have several pair here to dispose of, so need to pick your brain on this one. Enjoy the memories as you go down memory lane, BR, Calgary, AB
Mark, Although I don't know you personally and have been receiving your emails for a very long time, one thing I do know is no matter what you do today or any other day your dad is with you in your heart and thoughts. God Bless you and your family, today and always. Just a grandmother in NH!, JJ, Concord, NH
Hi Mark: You do not know me but I am sorry about your dad. It is hard to go through these experiences. As you express yourself from your heart, you also made me feel those memories about my own dad. Thank you. My dad was my best friend. Regards, CV, Calgary, AB
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