BORDERS OF APATHY: Reflections on Indifference and Humanity

	Encountering a few discarded cans
	it is easy to take them to a recycling stand.
	Yet confronting vast amounts of waste
	most people shrug their shoulders and think
	"The problem 's too great."

	Small amounts of litter
	take little effort to collect
	yet when horizons are filled with trash
	most of us wonder
	"Can't somebody else clean this mess?"

	Coming across a few folks in need
	charity seems easy.
	However, witnessing large-scale poverty
	how tempting it is to turn numb
	ignoring the suffering!

	Though many of the world's problems
	seem too big to face
	the boundaries of our apathy
	reveal precisely
	how our conscience is placed.

Andrei:     (coughing) At one time I was idealistic, but recently as sense of pessimism has grown.

Ellesha:    Then discover parts of you that are still young. Most people have at least
            some parts that are uncorrupted by apathy or cynicism.

Andrei:     (holding back a sneer) Iz zhat possible? I've seen so much deception 'n crap.
            Zhe entire world seemz like a flimsy facade.

Philyra:    C'mon Andrei! A certain amount of crap is inevitable. Don't be so damn fastidious!

Ellesha:    Philyra iz right. Our basic choice is to be alive err dead - az long az yer
            clinging ta some real err imagined past, yer dead . . .

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from _Let the waters be my witness: Messages about our watery world_ by T Newfields
SUMMARY: Some thoughts about ennui, entropy, social isolation and stagnation.
KEYWORDS: edges of indifference, idealism and pessimism, social activism, caring

Author: T Newfields [Nitta Hirou / Huáng Yuèwǔ] (b. 1955)
Begun: 1996 in Shizuoka, Japan / Finished: 2017 in Xīn-Táiběi, Taiwan
Creative Commons License: Attribution. {{CC-BY-4.0}} Granted

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TRANSLATIONS

DEUTSCH:  http://www.tnewfields.info/de/grenzen.htm
ESPAÑOL:  http://www.tnewfields.info/es/bordes.htm
FRANÇAIS: http://www.tnewfields.info/fr/bords.htm
NIHONGO:  http://www.tnewfields.info/jp/mukan.htm
ZHŌNGWÉN: http://www.tnewfields.info/zh/lengmo.htm