Equality

So here is a funny story......

Orlando Guy, who I don't like, brought this girl back to our room......Luckily he is my suite-mate and not my roommate.

Anyways......I went to the restroom and when I got out, they were in the room. Well I can only connect to the internet with an ethernet cable in the living room......so I heard them "doing it". And it only lasted 10 min. Haha. So I tried to send a text to Pittsburgh guy saying "Our roommate just got laid. And last 10 min.".........BUT

I sent it to Orlando Guy on accident!!!! FML. I feel so embarrassed for doing that. So I left the room. I can't believe myself.

Today.

On a more serious note.

I went to the Holocaust Museum and it was moving. It was sad to see what happened. But what I don't understand is people saying "It's hard to believe that people just stood by and let it happened. How can they do that?" or "How can they kill so many people?"

These may or may not be the same people who know what is happening in Darfur, in Palestine & Israel, Africa, and so many other places in the world where injustices are happening. How can we let that happen? I'm not saying it is our duty to go liberate everyone but as citizens of this world it is our duty to care and to help those less fortunate in the best way we can. I believe in sovereignty of each country but I also believe in human rights. And it's not just about blatant abuses but injustices, even here in the US. Racism, hatred, ethnocentrism, and denial of civil liberties all take place here and people let their ideological beliefs guide them.

Pittsburgh Guy told Orlando Guy something I like, "If you are driven by an ideology in everything you do, you are going to find that it will lead you to places where you are completely wrong." And there is a song that I love by Ricardo Arjona called "El Mojado" (The wet one or wetback). I'll translate it.

Empacó un par de camisas, un sombrero, (He packed a pair of shirts, and a sombrero)
Su vocación de aventurero (His vocation was being adventurous)
Seis consejos, siete fotos, mil recuerdos. (6 pieces of advice, 7 photographs, and a thousand memories)

Empacó sus ganas de quedarse (He packed his urge telling him to stay)
Su condición de transformarse (It was a way of becoming)
En el hombre que soñó y no ha logrado. (The man he dreamed of and has yet to reach)

Dijo adiós con una mueca disfrazada de sonrisa (He say goodbye with a fake smile)
Y le suplico a su Dios crucificado en la repisa (And he asked his God on the shelf)
El resguardo de los suyos y perforó la frontera como pudo. (For protection and crossed the border any way he could)

Si la luna suave se desliza por cualquier cornisa (If the moon shines in any corner)
Sin permiso alguno, por qué el mojado precisa (Without permission, why does the wetback continue)
Comprobar con visas que no es de neptuno. (To have to prove with a visa that he is not from Neptune)

El mojado tiene ganas de secarse, (The wetback desires to be dry)
El mojado esta mojado (The wetback is wet)
Por las lágrimas que brota la nostalgia (From the tears brought forth by nostalgia)
El mojado, el indocumentado carga el bulto (The wetback, the undocumented man carries the ticket)
Que el legal no cargaría ni obligado. (That the legal man would not carry even by force)

El suplicio de un papel lo ha convertido (The demand for a piece of paper has made him)
En fugitivo y no es de aquí porque su nombre (A fugitive who is not from here because his name)
No aparece en los archivos ni es de allá porque se fue. (Does not appear in any files nor is he from the place he left)

Si la luna suave se desliza por cualquier cornisa (If the moon shines in any corner)
Sin permiso alguno, por qué el mojado precisa (Without permission, why does the wetback continue)
Comprobar con visas que no es de neptuno. (To have to prove with a visa that he is not from Neptune)

Mojado sabe a mentira tú verdad,
Sabe a tristeza la ansiedad
De ver un freeway y soñar
Con la vereda que conduce hasta tú casa.

Mojado, mojado de tanto llorar sabiendo que en algún lugar (The wetback, wet from crying knows that somewhere)
Le espera un beso haciendo pausa desde el día en que te marchaste. (A kiss awaits since the day he left)

Si la luna suave se desliza por cualquier cornisa
Sin permiso alguno, por qué el mojado precisa
Comprobar con visas que no es de neptuno.

Si la visa universal se extiende el día en que nacemos (If the universal visa is given to us the day we're born)
Y caduca en la muerte, por qué te persiguen mojado (And expires with death, why do the persecute you)
Si el cónsul de los cielos ya te dio permiso. (If the consul in the heavens already gave you permission)

My favorite line is the "universal visa". I'm not saying anything about immigration by the way. I like this song because it shows that we are human beings, and from the day that we are born, we have basic rights that no one should take away or deny them. And it is only fair that we make sure everyone is protected and treated in a fair manner. The injustices in this world (inequality, poverty, racism, exclusion) can't continue to go on. Like the famous quote at the Holocaust Museum says:

"They came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;

And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;

And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;

And then... they came for me... And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

We have to speak up and take a stand because then it can be too late in the end.