You shouldn’t need anyone to tell you that there were refugees long before the Syrian crisis brought their horror further into the public consciousness.
There was famine before recent announcements of severe food shortages in Yemen, Malawi and Nigeria, too. And, today, with over fifty countries run by dictatorships, oppression isn’t in short supply, either.
As heartening as it is to see the public response to the latest humanitarian crisis or injustice, it’s a shame that in so many cases it takes a major news event to bring a particular concept of suffering to people’s attention. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people were always paying attention, always aware of the inequalities in the world, and always willing to help chip away at it, wherever it may be? How many of these events might never have happened if we all paid more attention and supported those working to fix their root causes? In today’s always on, always connected, 24/7 news world, there’s no excuse to not know what’s going on in the lives of people less fortunate.
In a recent side project we launched Everyday Problems, a new site designed to raise awareness of problems faced by people on the planet each and every day, and to help people think about how they might be able to better engage in solutions. We also gave a one-off talk about the project at a recent TEDx event in Munich which you can watch above (and via the main Video menu).