Western Values

Further to my earlier post on Sider and simplicity - sometimes a cartoon speaks more than words.  Here is one from Phil Somerville (from his book "I am Moderately Fond of Australia, Hardie Grant Books, 2001)

Comments

[Joshua Ballard]

*sigh*

[Steve Carter]

While this no doubt is an accurate comment on Western values, the fact is that this could also be a comment on Asian values, African values, Latin value, etc. The underlying principal is that people are more concerned with their 'stuff' than anonomous people's sufferings. This is not just a 'Western' problem, but a 'People' problem.

[Cameron Thompson]

Perhaps not the main point of the cartoon, but it is true in the West that we get such an overdose of death and destruction through our media. What are we supposed to do when all we see is violence, seeminly without solution? Does the rest of the world live with knowing that tens of thousands will die each day from simple starvation? Perhaps it is easier to focus on some trivial, yet immediate issue, something within the realm of our own possibility to change. Each person will focus on living through their own crises, probably remaining ignorant, willingly or not, of others. Just a thought