‽istis ponders
becoming inured (weekending May 21st 2022)
This week ‽istis ponders and is very troubled by what may be the risk of a process of becoming inured as
‽ the Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), as of May 19 2022, verified
·
a total of 3,838 civilian deaths during.
·
256 were children.
·
4,351 people were reported to have been injured. However, OHCHR
specified that the real numbers could be higher.[i]
‽ the numbers of people ‘internally displaced’ in Ukraine, many leaving
their homes with little more than what they can carry, reportedly exceeds 8
million…[ii]
‽ images of pallbearers being kicked and beaten and of mourners
for a journalist being stunned with grenades – perhaps fade[iii]
‽ the specific number of inflatable boats attempting to cross
the Channel with people seeking safety and sanctuary and maybe just a chance,
is difficult to recall[iv]
‽ as warnings of climate crisis are perhaps assuaged by talk of ‘techno-fixes’[v]
‽ as the daily experiences of domestic violence, abuse and
coercive control for millions are possibly hidden behind what seems like a soap opera trial[vi]
‽ as an appalling report of a child who had their life literally
‘shaken out’[vii]
maybe brings the daily reality of abuse for some children and young people
momentarily into the public consciousness
…and on, and on – wherever you are, whichever country or continent; whatever acute crisis or chronic, desperate and distressing situation you may have thought about, or heard of, or read about, or experienced very, very directly......…‽
So ‽istis seeks out a definition: anure - ‘to accustom, to accept something undesirable’[viii]; ‘hardened by frequent exposure, especially to something bad’, ‘to accustom to hardship, difficulty, pain, etc.; toughen or harden; habituate’[ix]. Or, perhaps in some contrast, several definitions in law: to have a particular effect or result; a term used to indicate to whose benefit or advantage the particular action or process has been done for…[x]
And perhaps, possibly, maybe in these two areas of definition there could be a clue…‽
The effect of becoming inured, becoming hardened, accustomed, habituated - may be an unconscious/subconscious/innate survival mechanism, a way of coping after an exposure to too much reality, too much pain, too much that may disturb and distress? It may bring a benefit for me, limiting distress to ‘me and mine’ rather than an overwhelming ‘you and yours’?
Yet, if somehow we could bear to recall, bear to remember, bear to retain, bear to think and feel what it might be like; if we could bear to live with a little more unfettered ‘sympathetic imagination’[xi], well just consider how different the world could be…
© Pistis
NB:
further reflections and comments linked to this week’s theme and past blog entries
to be found on Twitter: replies, retweets (which don’t necessarily indicate
approval, sometimes the very opposite!) and ‘likes’: @Pistis_wonders. ‘Follows’
and respectful comment and dialogue welcome...
[i] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1293492/ukraine-war-casualties/
& see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Russo-Ukrainian_War#Total_casualties
for other statistics
[iv] This
data covers the 24-hour period 00:00 to 23:59 19 May 2022.
·
Number of migrants detected in small boats: 106
·
Number of boats detected: 3
·
The Ministry of Defence does not believe that
any migrants arrived on their own terms in a small boat from the English
Channel.
[vi]
For example: an estimated 1.6 million women aged 16 to 74 years experienced
domestic abuse in the last year https://www.womensaid.org.uk/information-support/what-is-domestic-abuse/how-common-is-domestic-abuse/
& https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-61527595
[viii]
Mirriam -Webster Dictionary: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inure
[x] https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/inure
