Disclaimer: These are purely my opinions and are not representative of another entity besides myself.
MLK - "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"
Desmond Tutu - "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality."
Every day we spend several hours educating ourselves. Whether it be on a celebrity, for school, or for your own knowledge, we are constantly learning about new things. In the age of technology, information gets from one end of the world to the other in the matter of seconds. Thus, it is extremely hard for me to believe people when they say they do not know about things going on around the world when the internet is a phone password away. Sure, you might not know all the details about current events but you can always LEARN. If you can spend hours learning about sports and celebrities, I am sure you can spare a few minutes to learn about current events happening around the world that are impacting others.
When a teacher teaches you how to do a math problem, it is not the teacher's responsibility to teach you every single math problem in the world. We learn the concept behind the math problem ourselves. Just like that, we need to learn how to seek information by ourselves about the things that matter in life. So what truly matters? The new affairs that celebrities are having or people suffering around the world?
As some of you might have guessed, I am talking about the current events that are happening around the world right now. As someone who is in medical school, I understand that being political might hurt our future careers so we tread a very dangerous line. However, when people around the world are suffering, I believe that politics is out of the picture and that is when human and natural laws kick in. Laws override politics in that laws will never change but political stances on laws might. For example, the UN has agreed that the killings of civilians is a breach of war (or peaceful protests met with violence being a breach by the government) and any country to do so will face consequences. This will never change. For example, our natural laws tell us that no human should ever die from starvation. This will never change.
In times of injustice, we have an obligation to not remain neutral. By remaining neutral, you are essentially saying that the things that are going on are not major enough to be worth your time. If someone is getting bullied and you don't stand up for them, did you not allow the bullying to go on? How are you better than the bully when you could've stopped it and spread awareness to no one bullies anyone ever again? By staying neutral, you are essentially saying that whatever is going on does not warrant intervention and therefore, can continue.
As humans, we should innately want to protect one another, especially people who cannot protect themselves. As health professionals who swore oaths to protect life, I do not understand how some might believe that it is not our moral and social responsibility to support protection of life no matter where it is. Just like in medicine, where we learn how to save people no matter their race, ethnicity, or background, we should learn how to advocate for people who cannot advocate for themselves no matter who they are.
And yes, this post is about Palestine (who are getting kicked out of their homes and civilians children getting killed everyday), about Africa (where 270 million people might starve to death in 2021), about India (where farmers will not be able to afford a living soon and where Covid is running crazy), about China (where people are being kept in camps based on their religion), about the USA (where some people have privileges' over others simply because of their skin color), and about everywhere else where there is injustice.
Therefore, if you are not educated about an injustice happening, it is your responsibility to go seek information and make your own opinion. Go ask people who are educated or go read about it yourself. Neutrality is not an option, you are either supporting the oppressed openly or the oppressor with your silence.
Some resources for to start getting educated:
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