Shortly after reading the news about the latest violence in Burma I came across this video:
Carrey has a powerful message, and one which needs to be heard.
Its a shame that the headlines (at least in the US) seem to have been that Hollywood funnyman Jim Carrey can actually say something serious, rather than the Human Rights violations, the desire for democracy and peace expressed by a nation, or the 11 year imprisonment (on and off) of a Nobel Peace Prize winner.
The BBC has long been praised for its political neutrality - even if it does go to the extremes of having a go at Blue Peter presenters for joining campaigns to encourage people to use bikes.
“The last occupant of 10 Downing Street became an embarrassing irritant after a decade and was finally put out to grass to spend his remaining years in obscurity”
Thus begins a BBC news article I found this morning. I found myself nodding in agreement and drawn to read on. Unfortunately, its not how it looks from the opening sentence.
Read the article in full here
John Simpson, World Affairs Editor for the BBC, wrote yesterday of his changing views regarding suffering, especially that of the victim of war or terrorism. He doesn’t say anything particularly new, so yesterday must have been a relatively slow news day at the Beeb. What amazes me most is that its taken a man of his education, confidence and presence of mind the life experience of 62 years and reporting through 2 gulf wars to realise that all human life is valuable, regardless of status, colour wealth, faith or any other barrier we care to mention.
He ends his piece:
The fact is, my time reporting on violence and bombings in places like Baghdad and Kabul has shown me one essential thing: that the lives of the poor, the stupid, the old, the ugly, are no less precious to them and to the people around them, than the life of my little son Rafe is precious to me.
Maybe if he didnt label people as old, stupid, ugly or poor, jamming them into stereotypes from which there is no escape, he may have learned to value them much sooner.
