Just watched Michael Jackson’s ‘Man In The Mirror’ video for the first time – really interesting video. The whole video is a collage of clips of inhumanity and injustice in the world, with occasional glimpses of leaders of the fight for equality and freedom – Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr etc.
The first thing that struck me, was to wonder how much had really changed since this video was shot. There are still thousands of starving kids in Africa; though the fight for equal rights, in terms of the law, has been won in America – there is still huge inequality between the races; bombs are still being exploded and guns being fired across the world – when will this change? Don’t get me wrong, i am happy at every step that has been taken in the right direction, but feel that we need more support to push our governments to do more.
Because of this, i decided that i’ve rattled on about things like this far too much without doing anything. I think it’s quite hard for the average person to pursue activities which will have an impact on a global scale, but i endevour to spend more time looking! I’ve created a petition (new window) to encourage the world’s richest governments to meet their commitments on foreign aid donations – please take 2 minutes of your day to read and sign this petition, and please tell other people about it. It will only be successful if you want it to be, by signing it and passing it on.
Official Development Assistance online petition (new window).
2 thoughts on “Man In The Mirror”
So tell me dearest brother, how much research has gone into this petition? Can I trust in the facts that you state in the petition text? Have you verified each and every one before putting your name on the line?
Do black people still sit in different sections of the bus in the USA? Are as many people dying today as they were when the video was made? Have you researched the figures?
It somewhat makes me think of open source versus proprietary operating systems. Should we accept the forcing of proprietary technology upon us, or should we perhaps start a petition for change? Well in the words of your friend Ghandi, “We must be the change we wish to see in the world”. Do you, my dearest brother, use an open source, standards compliant, operating system for your daily business? Are you able to look at the man in the mirror and make a change?
Well mon brotheros. If you would care to review the links on the right hand side of the petition, you could read for yourself the facts on various trusted websites including UN.org.
If you also notice, i didn’t state that nothing has changed, but merely wondered how much has changed since the video was made.
As for the OS bit…well if you feel it is an important point – why don’t you do something about it? I currently am happy to accept the way that computers and technology is moving, based on the fact that more and more people are coming into the industry and creating a more competitive market.