Humanity Washed Ashore

The Dissident Dad: Everyday, I help my children get dressed. Our 1 year old baby loves having her shoes put on, my 3 year old daughter is obsessed with princess dresses, and my 5 year old, who dresses himself, can be most often seen wearing a red Lighting McQueen shirt.
I look into their faces, and I see so much happiness and joy. I don’t even need to do or say anything, just look into their eyes, and my children smile back radiantly.
Despite all our advancements as a species, our iDevices, the internet of everything, travel, and the ability to deliver fresh produce around the world, humanity still suffers from unspeakable horrors due to an inability to see ourselves within our fellow humans. We are so obsessed with our own needs, our own egos, and our tribalism to understand we are all in this together. Through all the suffering, we continue to go about our lives, forgetting about the pain happening to so many of our brothers and sisters.
Although I am well aware of the realities of the world we live in, and despair about much of it often, something I saw this past week really hit home for me. A photo of a small toddler washed ashore recently brought me to uncontrollable tears.
There was this little boy, with his little 5 inch shoes on, wearing disheveled soaking wet shorts, and a red shirt fit just to his size. There he lay, dead on a beach.  Washed ashore while his family tried to escape the unimaginable nightmare of war.

Maybe it was the similarities I saw between him and my own kids that hit me so hard. I don’t know, but this specific photo caused me great emotional anguish.
I can’t help but think how this boy was probably so excited to go on a boat ride. Having almost no understanding of the grave situation he was in, he probably smiled, held his family tight, and trusted that all would be okay. Just as my own children do everyday.
This boy deserved to live, and it makes me hurt inside to read about all the various actions local governments have taken to treat these people like insects you want to keep out of your kitchen.
Government, along with corrupt and manipulative political parties, have become masters at fencing us all in. Encouraging us to be tribal and feel threatened by people not born within our illusionary borders. They restrict our travel, our use of funds, and where we are permitted to live.
Unfortunately, this horrific photo won’t be the last, not as long as humanity continues to believe that humans born beyond our borders can and should be treated like pests.

 
With a heavy heart,
– Daniel Ameduri aka The Dissident Dad

Source

X art by WB7 



Additional: http://stgeorgewest.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/refugeecrisis-what-media-is-hiding-help.html