"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" This famous query, attributed to the 18th-century Irish philosopher George Berkeley, seems all too relevant today concerning our humanitarian apathy.
In the spirit of celebrating the 312 years since the inception of this thought experiment, it seems apt to ask: If more than 200 civilians are slaughtered in a systematic manner within a 3-hour window and their deaths don't receive appropriate media coverage, does the loss of life make any difference in the world?
While most of us would be content with reading more of Berkeley's thought experiments, let us for a brief moment come to terms with reality. For more than a year, the people of Syria have been protesting against the Syrian government, and the current regime has brutally suppressed the call to political freedom and end to autocracy.
While I hesitate to bombard you with numbers, the situation in Syria coupled with a lack of coverage of the massacres in this newspaper compel me to enumerate a few casualty figures.
According to the latest reports, more than 6,000 civilians have been killed and 1,500 injured. According to The New York Times, tens of thousands are behind bars simply for making their voices heard in a country ruled by single tyrannical family for more than 40 years.
Since last week, government forces have escalated their cruelty against the civilian population. During a span of 3 hours last Friday, more than 200 Syrian civilians were massacred in the city of Homs. This Wednesday, between 40 and 100 more innocent lives were lost.
As you read this column at your RTS bus stop, the blood of Syrians, old and young, is pouring down the streets of the capitol of the Syrian revolution.
The paucity of coverage of the bloodbath in Syria becomes depressing when we consider ourselves "global citizens." The struggle and fight for freedom and justice, whether you support the "revolutionaries" or not, will carry on and eventually (at least theologically speaking, if one believes in divine justice) will be victorious. For each life being sacrificed at the altar of social justice, un-Obama-like change will come to fruition, perhaps generations later.
At the end of the day, the question becomes simple: Would you rather spend your free time complaining about the declining quality of Lupe Fiasco's rap or get on the "right" side of history by raising awareness and donating money to the aid agencies working for Syria?
Zulkar Khan
Pre-med sophomore at UF
