Who is Someone Else?

Is it you? Is it me?

Photo by Ammar Rizwan on Unsplash

This is going to sound rough at first but doesn’t end that way. I don’t know if you will read this all the way through or write me off. But, I’m typing anyway and I hope you’ll bear with me.

Society is collapsing around us while the majority bury their heads in the sand. Not that I blame them. We’re conditioned to flinch and cling to ignorance rather than seek to understand. It’s safer to believe what we’re told, in the short term at least.

I’ve always had a problem going along with things I don’t agree with, whether in school, work, or with friends. I don’t believe in taking advantage of people for money. I can’t agree with manipulating others to get ahead, and I definitely can’t sit twiddling my thumbs pretending everything is fine when it so clearly isn’t.

I have a friend who doesn’t vote. She says she doesn’t understand politics, and therefore she doesn’t believe she has a right to voice any opinions about how society is run. Instead of choosing to educate herself, she’d rather sit by and let someone else handle it. After all, someone else always steps up, speaks up, saves the day.

This same friend says she wants to help the world. Something deep within pulls her toward helping sexual abuse victims. She feels drawn to the cause, the victim’s pain familiarly twists her…