If it aint broke, don't fix it

On the 4th of September, the TV program 'Sunday Night' featured an adventure writer and one of the show's cameramen and their encounter with Brazil's Suruwaha Tribe. Considered one of the most elusive people on earth, the tribe have lived the same way as they had for thousands of years and still retain ancient rituals like human sacrifice. According to the show, only a few scientists and government officials have been granted access to the tribe and that 'Sunday Night' would be the first and only show on TV that would have access to them.
Naturally, I was intrigued about the documentary but also somewhat concerned. The cynic in me thought that it would be nothing more than an exploitation of a tribe of people who are best off left alone. Well, I decided to put my pessimism aside and watched it.

I wish I didn't. Why? Because my suspicions were confirmed. What I saw were two ignoramuses who zealously tried to make celebrities out of these people and suggest that it would be a good idea to somehow civilise them. They also had the audacity to insinuate that the tribe were savages and that their practices and rituals were unnatural and constantly referred to them as 'Indians' (You're not in India, guys. You're in the Amazon. Call them Natives if you want but how about dropping the nickname that only came to be thanks to a historical faux pas). Talk about a total lack of respect. And to top it off, I fear that what these two guys did is expose this peaceful tribe to the rest of the world and when that happens, it usually leads to people invading their land, destroying the tribe and its culture and trying to assimilate them into a society they are unfamiliar with where they are likely to fall prey to poverty, crime, unemployment and all the other traps in society.

First of all, you can call these people's practices and culture savage and unnatural all you want but that's because you are looking at it from your own perspective. For the Suruwaha Tribe, it is all normal and a part of their life. I'm pretty sure they would look at us 'civilised folks' dressed in fancy clothes, eating with silver utensils, getting around in vehicles, suffering from diseases etc and think that it is us who are living unnaturally. These two had no right to barge in on this tribe's space and criticise their way of life. Surely you wouldn't let someone into your home and tell you to your face that your lifestyle sucks.
Secondly, if you look at history, from the Australian Aborigines to the Native Americans you'll see that invading native land and trying to change the people and force them into a world they are unfamiliar with is dangerous work. You remember what happened? These people fell prey to diseases introduced by the settlers, had their homes taken away, their culture was destroyed, they turned to crime out of desparation etc. In the present time, they are still more likely than most to be unemployed, jailed or living a shorter life expectancy. Clearly intervention and civilisation didn't benefit them 100%. Do we really want the same thing happening to the Suruwaha Tribe?

I guess if there's one phrase that sums up my thoughts on this matter, it is 'if it aint broke, don't fix it.' The Suruwaha Tribe is perfectly fine leading their current life, their culture is what it is and they should be left alone. No one should be trying to intervene in these people's lives just because they think some aspects of it is disgusting. If people have a problem with it, who really cares? It's not your life, people, nor is it your culture and you really have no business telling people what's wrong with their way of life and try to change them.

One person's idiocy, everyone loses.

September 11 this year will mark 10 years since the terrorist attacks in New York City. It was one of those events that sent shockwaves around the world and I think everybody still pretty much remembers what they were doing when they heard about it. Me? I was getting ready for school. Upon arriving at school everyone was talking about some crazy thing that went down in the 'States'. During the next few weeks the attacks dominated every news outlet, Osama Bin Laden was identified as the mastermind of the attacks, the world grieved with the US and most notably, hatred and fear of Muslims ran riot.

I read the newspaper this morning and in a section devoted to 'Ten Years On' since the attacks, a small article was included in which an Australian family of Palestinian Muslim heritage express their sadness over the hatred Bin Laden caused. The father, Neil El-Kadomi laments how people give them dirty looks in the streets, how people question their religion and how some media outlets add fuel to the fire by continuing to incite fear and hatred of Muslims. El-Kadomi stressed how he and his family, and average Australian Muslims are proud to be Australian and proud to practice their faith and that they condemn the acts of extremists.

Don't you just hate how when one person from any given community or minority screws up or crosses the line, everyone instantly hates on the rest of their people? Not only is this unfair to the innocent parties of that community, it is also an act of pure ignorance. No one should be made to suffer from another person's idiocy. I get angry whenever I see stories on current affairs shows that talk about some 'Muslim Uprising' and how 'Western' culture is in serious danger thanks to Muslims. Ok, so maybe there are some extremists out there who take their religion too far but that shouldn't be an excuse to hate on the entire religion and its worshippers, especially since Muslims in general do not condone such acts and view it as going against their faith which preach the power of peace.

It isn't just Muslims that's getting a bad rap. Migrants and people of ethnic backgrounds also take the heat whenever one of their own commits a crime and also when they are VICTIMS of a crime, accident or tragedy. For example, you look at the news and read about how an Asian or African person committed a crime, you immediately hear the masses calling for these people to be banned or sent back to their countries, normally with the use of racist epithets. Just recently we saw in the news how a young African girl was mauled to death in her Melbourne, Australia home by a neighbour's American Pitbull Terrier. While the girl's family received an outpouring of sympathy from the country, a few shitheads out there (I try not to use profanities in my blogs but in this case I felt it was appropriate) used it as an opportunity to racially attack the victim, praise the vicious dog as a 'True Aussie Hero' and tell other people of the same heritage that the same fate awaited them if they didn't leave the country.

This repugnance has got to stop. Just because someone who represents a community or a minority screws up it is no reason to hate on the other innocent people within that community or minority. It is an unfair and ignorant practice and has no place in an accepting society. Criticise the culprits, not their people.