(no subject)

[nigeltde]

We like to act, in my society, and probably in yours too. What are you doing? we ask everyone we meet. What have you been doing, and what are you up to next? If obituaries and introductions are anything to go by, people's lives really are ultimately the sum of their actions.

Yet this action often feels empty.* I can avoid fast food, but is the processed perfection of supermarket product any better? I can demonstrate, but does Canberra really give a fuck? I can separate my recyclables, but are they really recycled by the council? I can donate money, but is it going to the right people? I can get a job, but will it enrich my life? I can act, but without balancing that with thought and reflection, how do I know I am living a good life? IMO this malaise and underlying doubt contributes to disillusionment, disengagement, apathy, and a reorientation towards oneself at the expense of others.

It also, of course, infuriatingly masquerades as intelligent, practical cyncism and operates as an excuse for doing nothing. Meaningful action is by no means impossible--we do it every day--and the crucial importance of action can be seen in how easy it is to fear of the helplessness of not knowing what to do.

Last night lainy122 and I stopped to help a mother and daughter (K.) rescue an echidna that had been run over. Lainy had a box in the back of her car, and using a shovel we levered him into it as gently as possible. During this and for several minutes after we dicussed what we could do with it. Could anyone come out at this time of night or would we have to take it home? Could wildlife parks help? The RSPCA? K.'s father eventually rang back to say that the Animal Hospital, only five to ten minutes away, could accept it. There was a vet nurse on duty waiting.

Lainy and I drove it there. We listened to the poor guy gasp for breath and grunt and whimper in pain the whole way. There was a stark tyre-track of broken spines across the back of his neck and head and he seemed unable to curl up defensively. But we were driving him somewhere. We had someone with specialised knowledge ready to help us. Having acquired the echidna, and feeling compelled to do something other than hasten his demise with cane-shaped object, we could do something with it. I think that if the Animal Hospital had not been open, I would have despaired.

It does not take much for doubt to set in. When we got there the first thing the nurse asked us to do was fill in a form--before even taking the echidna from us. It is quite likely that his injuries will be too severe and he will be put down. Perhaps whoever was driving will never think again about what happened. Still, I will never forget the gratitude and relief I felt at being able to hand him over to someone able to help more than I could, and the intense thankfulness that even if our society has come up with roads and cars, we've also got animal hospitals.

K. messaged me today to say that the little guy survived the night and that while he is still in distress, he is able to curl into a ball and has been tranferred to the care of a wildlife organisation who will be able to help him even more. I really hope he will be okay. This country is built on enough bones of dead people and animals; there's no need to add any more.

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*Moreover, action often seems to be in terms of conscience appeasment and the discharging of a minimum amount of responsibility. What is the least I can do without feeling the pangs of guilt? At what point can I say something is outside my sphere of action and is someone else's responsibility?

Comments

[corvus-coronis.livejournal.com]

I think not many people know what they will do in a situation, until they are actually faced with it. There have been situations where I have not acted when I should have, and also ones where I acted when I should not have, and just got in the way. Like the time my mother & I rescued an injured young eagle; his parents were flying overhead & we could hear them calling out to him when we took him into the car. He ended up going to the vet, who had to amputate part of his wing, since it had become gangrenous. His future was still uncertain, until the local wildlife park took him in - but that later closed down a few years later, and when my mother rang to find out what was going to be done with him, she could get no answer. Taking action is very much an ongoing process, I think.

[nigeltde]

ITA. Ongoing postive action and continuous questioning and reflection are essential or we just fall into complacency and rigidity; structure without content or ends without means.