There’s No Business Like Show Business by Ala Oueslati, Tunisia

In the beginning it was Earth, pureness, a sanctuary of peace and beauty. Mankind evolved in so many ways, making Earth a place that can sustain life, because before it wasn’t. But I find to my amazement that as we are the products of our own evolution, we are also the products of the possessions we have acquired through our evolution.   So, in order to make Earth life sustaining, we started to show that we care. Showing that we care has been a trend in the last few decades because it’s effortless but it shows responsibility and wisdom. Responsible and wise people who are dear to all of us, especially to those who suffer, have taken the lead in showing that they care. These are men and women like Tony Blair who is paid $17,465,000 a year, Hillary Clinton who is paid $5,000,000 a year, Silvio Berlusconi with a daily salary of $103,960, and, of course, the one and only king of care-showing, Mr. Ban-Ki Moon, who receives a monthly salary of only $18,937. Other remarkable and serious instances of responsible and wise people are Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga who might be showing more care to some world issues than the previously mentioned above.   No one can deny how much care, compassion, and understanding these world leaders have been showing, especially when the world has been witnessing so many unfortunate events in recent history. Here I find myself able to see two options: either people believe that the so-called ‘world system’ is wrong, but don’t make the concerted effort to make a change, or they think the world is a place that can sustain their lives and whenever something is wrong, they turn on the TV to listen to world leaders, media, and many beloved artists (mostly in the acting industry) to show them a variety of reactions; care being an important one of them.   The world system that I mentioned – and I am no expert – is the same system that emphasizes highlighting particular causes over others that might be of a greater importance. It’s the world that shows care about serious problems in the north and in the south without fixing them, leaving people like me, with addled brains that absorb no information and assimilate no events. It’s the same system that shows care about global warming, species extinction and extremely dangerous epidemics like Ebola! It is the same world that decides who to love and who to marry, who to accuse, who to detain, who to kill, protect, support, accept, who to consider dangerous, and who to hashtag.   Humankind’s attempts to show omnipresence and omnipotence seem like a grotesque play where all the people are just unrehearsed. The reason why I don’t agree with most of the information I consume is because I don’t agree with the purpose of it: showing care. Does this make them better people just because they show some care? Does this give them the right to decide what’s best for those who are less lucky? Of course! They are PhD holders with years of experience, with words of vision, leadership, and influence. However, what I must disagree with most is the distinctions these people create between what’s good and what’s bad (and they decide which is which). The distinction between developed and developing world is the most meaningless among them all. What has Brazil got to do with Liberia? Not much. One is a newly industrialising behemoth with an average income near the world average. The other is one of the world’s poorest, which is still emerging from war. Yet, both are officially considered developing according to some criteria, and that is meaningless. In addition, as more than a billion people live with chronic hunger, it looks like poverty is not the exception; it is the rule. We also need to know that most countries aren’t well off; the average monthly income of Luxembourg is $7,617, which is two hundred and sixteen times higher than the average monthly income of the Democratic Republic of Congo.   They also make us believe that the world is overpopulated. It is not. World agriculture produces 18% more calories per person today than it did 30 years ago, this despite a 70% population increase. The real problems are the system of distribution and energy use. Inequality matters as much as poverty, and world leaders aren’t telling us that, because they want more distinctions, so they can show more care.   It breaks my heart that my own experiences and my own development deepen my conviction that our moral progress can only be measured by the degree in which we tend to sympathize with individual suffering and individual happiness. At times, our moral progress is measured by the degree in which we express our loyalty to a religious belief and that is even worse.   I am not pessimistic, and I don’t know everything. In fact, I have little knowledge compared to those who I think are shaping the world and representing all the unfortunate populations of the Earth. I just believe that Humankind cannot bear reality, or truth, simplicity, pureness, peace, or beauty, and that is called selfishness. Humankind needs to stop showing care and start caring. That is something that dogs, cats and monkeys do and it is called love.