How can I help Syrian refugees? Let’s see… how about I start with a full and proper condemnation of my own country for bombing Syria in the first place. People we had no quarrel with have lost homes, friends, family and lives because we in the west can’t keep our greedy fingers off of their shit. 50 to 60 thousand refugees will be flooding a system already screwed over by the same man who bombed them out of their own country. Ours is a nation that used to be able to pride itself on being peacekeepers. We used to send our soldiers in to stand between two opposing forces, you know… to prevent them from killing each other. Now we send them in to do the killing. But not just on the ground, we’ll slaughter people from the air, and not just those we’ve decided are bad people, but those who actually have nothing to do with the conflict other than being the poor dumb bastards that ended up under a bomb. This isn’t cartoon reality, where you end up black with soot and holding a tiny umbrella, bodies tear apart and people die. Did you think that the places we’ve turned into craters just housed a few bad guys? Where and what do you think the refugees are seeking refuge from?
Let’s try something. You are at home, having a quiet diner. Suddenly, it’s no longer quiet, because the front of your house is gone and so is half your family. Those that are left are shattered pieces of what used to be. Let’s also pretend that this same shit has happened to your neighbors. Let’s go further and say that you decided to pick up what’s left of your life and sell everything in hopes that you will afford passage out of your country. As luck would have it, you did have enough to send the only child you have left alive… but you cannot go with him/her. To add a bit of realism, let’s just say that your hopes are dashed when you find out your child was beaten, even killed. I don’t need to go further. Those who could be swayed by empathy have been by now. All the rest, cannot even be considered human.