Asking for trouble and finding it – Winnipeg Free Press

Opinion

Every time I hear someone scream in public that “it can't get any worse,” I want to cower and hide.

It seems to me that they are tempting fate. Some sleepy demigod wakes up when these words are spoken, and then makes sure things get worse. I don't want to be held hostage by a thunderbolt from the blue sky in response.

It's hard to convince people in crisis, people who think they've lost everything, that they can lose even more.

A comparison of worse and better. Things will get better or worse compared to the current situation. It is completely natural and reasonable to want things to improve; Waiting for things to get worse without doing anything is just wishful thinking.

So, every time I leave the Canadian Museum of Human Rights, I always see the genocide and holocaust exhibits. Spending time in the air, thinking and writing, and walking down to ground level reminds me that this kind of peace is a privilege, but we want it to be a right.

On the way, I always hold the hands of a statue of a young girl in memory of Holodomir, the Soviet Union's starvation of millions of Ukrainians. (If thousands of Jets fans can polish Timothy Eaton's boot, with any luck, his hand will eventually have a similar shine, reflecting our commitment to rejecting genocide everywhere.)

I look into the eyes of a man on death row, at the side of a pit full of bodies, carefully holding a folded coat in one hand, clinging in disbelief to normality in the middle of hell. I can see children's faces from all sides, distorted by the experiences imposed by adults.

These displays remind me that as bad as things are for us today, they will always get worse. But they can improve too – if we work at it. The more parts there are, the harder it is to put them together—harder, but not impossible.

Looking around the world right now, the global focus is on the suffering in Gaza/Palestine, the increasing death toll in the trenches and fields in Ukraine, and it's easy to feel powerless in response.

However, there are other places where we are not so powerless to make a difference, to make a difference. In April 2023, Sudan descended into civil war when the Rapid Support Force (RSF) militia fought against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The people of Sudan did not want to do anything to either side. They have been working, protesting and suffering for a democratic society since their last dictator was forced to resign.

But it didn't matter what they wanted. A few years ago, some of them must have felt that the situation in Sudan could not get any worse, but it did. There are now about 10 million refugees, most of them internally. People are fleeing the violence, creating new crises on the border with Sudan, home to the world's largest refugee camps (in Darfur).

Some of these humanitarian issues have spilled over into neighboring countries such as South Sudan. One of the world's poorest countries and one of the newest is unable to cope with the influx of refugees fleeing ethnic and tribal violence. But nobody is doing anything to change the situation. The African Union did not back down from its protests, and the world took notice. In fact, the chaos in Sudan is profitable for some players abroad, so the conflict continues without stopping.