【ILoveBlog7】 day22romanticism

N1KD

What a romantic idea – that an expensive and fancy dinner, attended by students still financially stable enough to dish out forty dollars for a few dishes, and adults willing to pay twice that amount, could be the best way in which we can assist in raising awareness of the problem of landmines in formerly (and presently) war-torn nations.

I certainly wouldn’t give such an amount to a canvasser on the street (you know, the ones decked out in vests representing their respective organization who approach you with binders). But I must say.. it was somewhat awkward dining in the presence of 16 larger-than-life portraits of children who are missing limbs and other parts due to these mines.

Don’t we always romanticise these causes?

The idea of valour and honour in war…
of benevolence and righteousness in peacekeeping…
of selflessness and compassion in humanitarianism…
and how often do the consequences reflect our intentions?

Needless to say, romantic notions of war are only that,
but even peacekeeping, as in the case of Rwanda,
doesn’t always turn out for the better.
Nor do initiatives to “build infrastructure”, “provide sustainable means of growing food”, etc…

Can we help being so shortsighted?

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