MALIK: We should prioritize solidarity, not news avoidance
The longer we exist in a tumultuous "political" state with more and more devastating news headlines, the more shocked I get that my day-to-day life remains the same.
Unless I actively choose to acknowledge the problems in this world, whether by joining protests or educating myself, I am surprised I can continue to live the same life with no difficulty at all.
Unless I purposefully allow myself to feel the discomfort of knowing the tragedies that are taking place in Palestine, Sudan or Congo, it seems the world continuously tries to spoon-feed us the comfort of knowing "it is not our problem."
But is our comfort valid if it depends on ensuring that others are uncomfortable? How much longer do we have until our bubble stops existing and we have to look for help from people who have decided "it is not their problem?" How fickle is our humanity if the only empathy we can extend is to ourselves?
In the past few years, there has been more of a focus on empathetic exhaustion from caring about too much. It is based on the idea that the news can make you uncomfortable because it highlights your lack of control and makes you feel powerless and, therefore, you should tune out for your own peace.
In a nation where we have clearly decided to focus on our own comfort, it is not surprising that 36 percent of respondents to a survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism stated that they sometimes or often avoid the news.
The news can be too depressing and too serious and raises awareness of our own lack of control, but it is important to hear. In an era where it gets easier to tune out the news, we have to force ourselves to tune in.
The idea that the empathy we have to give is similar to a bucket of water, that it can be used up, that it can become empty, is another form of individualism and a mechanism of embracing indifference, not the tool of gaining control that it claims to be.
The idea of tuning out has been embraced as necessary for us to feel more secure in our lives and not exhaust ourselves, but it disregards the comfort that affords us the position to not only hear others' cries for help but also to ignore them. Tuning out is not simply tuning out, it is turning our backs. It is exactly the kind of individualistic mentality that we need to unlearn.
The individualistic nature of our lives is taught from the beginning. We are all taught to reach for the stars, that our dreams are the most important and that the success we achieve depends only on us and our own ability. We are taught that somebody out there is fighting for our freedoms, making sure we can continue to live our lives in safety.
We are taught that we are exceptional, that we are the most free, that we are the best and subtly convinced that we have this life because we deserve it. The problem with the idea that we deserve this is that it has no basis other than us being born where we were born.
This exceptionality is only based on our mindset. And yet, it is that same belief that allows people to walk by homeless people and not look them in the eyes because they do not see them as human. It is the same mindset that allows us to turn a blind eye to news from other areas because we have been taught they are not exceptional, not like us. This mindset is based on a learned belief that our comfort is worth more than others' humanity.
This mindset is unsustainable, and we all have to take an active role and decide whether we want to continue to be complicit. The current dismissive mindset people hold has globally caused violence to numerous populations.
Solidarity is not something you are or can have but rather an action you can take, and no action is too small.
At Rutgers alone, we have seen the number of clubs that have stood up as part of the "We Are All SJP" campaign in calling out the wrongful suspension and continued probation of Students for Justice in Palestine at Rutgers—New Brunswick (SJP) and protesting to secure Rutgers' divestment from what dozens of experts are calling a genocide. Our hope for a better world is only as limited as our mindset.
Sehar Malik is a sophomore in the School of Arts and Sciences majoring in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and minoring in French. Malik’s column, “People Talking” runs on alternate Tuesdays.
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