I come from South Africa. This is an example of the confusions I have to come to grips with.
I see on TV and I hear about MH17, a plane with nice Dutch people shot down by either Ukraine or the Russians. Because I am a fan of Family Guy and cartoons, I don’t watch a lot of news. So I don’t know that much.
It seems that a lot of Dutch people who don’t watch cartoons that much, spend a lot of time denoting a lot of value on who mercilessly shot down the plane with loved ones in it. It seems very important who shot it down.
MH17 is an emotionally charged subject. People identify it in terms of tragedy, a lot of tears and hate the people who have done this.
It is a culturally defined symbol of all of these feelings, it is a topic people talk about, cry about. This binds the society This brings people together. This causes people to console each other, debate and you explain to your kids what compassion is all about.
MH17 is a kind of glue that binds, it is something I try to understand.
Please bear with me with the following example that I am thinking about seeing that I am from two cultures.
In South Africa there are other tears to be shed, other things to talk about and other things to be angry about. You hear about the murder of farmers. A group of people decided to do this act because they aren’t happy about their country or the past. So they kill to justify their cause.
You see this atrocities and you get angry, you cry and you teach your kids about the value of human life and explain the workings of compassion.
You hear about a some guys raising a fist, that is seen by many as either a sign of liberation or terrorism. I would say if you have a dear one who was killed and you hear that a few people raised their fist after the fact, this might be the emotionally charged symbol.
So you get two culturally defined incidents to bind people. Irrespective if it is a fist raised or MH17.
People share their intimacies, talk about the value of what it is to be human. What is considered decent or decadent.
About a plane or a fist raised in the air.
Some people don’t know what a raised fist means, other’s don’t know what MH17 stands for.
In the end they are both the the same thing.
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