Once upon a time I heard a joke about equality in the world that ended by comparing the US to Canada and made a point of mentioning how wonderful a place this is to live. My perception of Canada and the world is twinned with that joke and I, growing up dirt poor and still having all my nessesities looked after, can`t grasp the concept behind many long lived national and internaional feuds, or small negativities dispersed daily by the incredibly fortunate for that matter.
Having recently arrived in the fabulous province of Quebec and more particularly a small town outside of Montreal, I was shocked when I was informed that the Cirps and Bloods are not only an infection in the US but are also becoming a factor in Montreal! The first thing out of my mouth(was french, so here is the translation) was along the lines of -but what on earth do they have to fight about? Is it possible that way back when, this massive gang war began because two people had a bar fight that simply escalated along the lines of my-brother-is-bigger-than-your-brother, and has now is continuing into Canada`s peaceful terrain by the same means? To me that evokes not only dismay and anger that among so many people so few have been able to ask why everyone began to fight in the first place but also elation that the global community is becoming more tightly knit. (Who knows, maybe some day Canadian with friends in the US will be able to convince them all that the president doesn`t have to be an idiot to qualify for the presidency.) Not knowing how this all began I can`t judge the reasoning behind the fighting but I do know that life isn`t fair and in the end you just have to accept it. Maybe this is naive of me (probably; I am forever being told how naive I really am,) but if everyone involved with a gang stopped being so noble and bent on vengence, and just accepted the fact that their best friends were shot or that some people just have more money and there isn`t any rational action to be taken but a nice funeral or maybe a lawsuit, then everyone would be (poorer but,) better off.
I have to stress my naivety again here folks, I grew up dirt poor but really had nothing to whine about except bullying at school a bit (you`ll be happy to know that my ex-arch-nemissis is doing the same exchange as I am and we are getting along like best friends,) so I really don`t comprehend where people are coming from when they feel so wronged by those who were born into more privileged families. However, I`m not a complete idiot; I have compation and empathy for those who are so wronged by reincarnation or karma or whatever you want to call bad natal luck, and I definitly understand the anger felt and expressed by some while witnessing a fortunate young person flaunting weath with no idea how to be grateful for it. But really the diffrence between me and somone willing to shoot somone else over it, is that I can tell myself yeah, that idiot is so lucky and they don`t even know it, but maybe for them ignorance is bliss, so let them rejoce in their bliss. Some people aren`t meant to know the world`s sorrows.