The other day there were 39 overdoses in London, Ontario within a 24 hour period because some asshole went around handing out drugs with the intent to harm addicts in the streets.
The Heart Is Hard To Find
It should go without saying that that’s a really fucked up thing to do, but unfortunately if you were curious like me about the comment section in the news release, what was more common was the amount of people applauding the effort – the attempt to rid our neighbourhoods of addicts by act of mass poisoning is seen by many as… admirable.
I know people can have their opinions, but it should be super clear that what you’re applauding is attempted murder on innocent people who may already not be in the greatest state of mind to make logical or sensible decisions and that makes you a fucking monster.
It brings forward the question: At what point do we as everyday people believe that we are deserving of being the judge, jury and executioner of whomever we come across in the world.
And it really fucks me up how many people feel entitled to that collection of roles.
It’s Day One In My Mind
I miss the innocent of youth because while you always knew that there were bad people in the world and terrible situations or circumstances, you always kind of believed that we were all in this thing together and were trying to look out for each other. It’s harder now as an adult who has seen and heard and understood too much to believe that with your whole heart. We’re a little too far gone, aren’t we?
The shitty people are louder and more emboldened than ever before in history, thanks large in part to 1; our obnoxious addiction to social media and the increased desire for ourselves to be seen and heard on a global scale and 2; the corruption of mass media by corporations with a vested interest in control for personal financial gain.
And the less-shitty people are…exhausted by it all. We’re overwhelmed by the level of tragedy, pain and suffering we inflict on each other and left feeling hopeless to the cause because well, there are so many causes. Every day there’s another one… and another by lunch and another by sundown – and that’s just on one local channel.
And we know there are no saints here, only varying degrees of sinners. Still, we must decide collective on a threshold of sin and then appropriate action for it. Does being an addict go beyond that threshold? I really don’t believe so, else, we’re all beyond the fold. Or does it only pertain to certain types of addicts? Even if it does, does it constitute murder?
The problem here is that not any one of us alone can or should be able to decide that for the rest of us, but we will never be able to stop someone’s willingness to try.
And our reactions to someone’s willingness, like positive praise in the comments section of a news release sent with ease from the comfort of your couch, only further encourage other depraved “saviors” to try.
All The Fucked Up Things You Say
I’d love to say that I think this problem is not as big as it is – broadly speaking, the problem of a sheer lack of empathy and an emboldened sense of entitlement – but, it’s really not.
We’ve done ourselves a great disservice over the years by turning the alarming into spectacle and we’ve taken incredible damage each time we’ve done so without care and consideration to its impact on the casual viewer or reader.
We’ve even convinced ourselves at times that this was necessary and important. “We’re just shedding light on the issue,” they say as they post a new reel of an addict in a deep fent lean at a children’s park.
I think we’re well past the point of needing to showcase the fact that we’re in the midst of a serious crisis as it pertains to addicts in our cities – they, we, are everywhere. Many are even existing without you even knowing they are burdened with their addictions.
What we don’t showcase enough is the need and importance of empathy in order to combat the crisis. We don’t showcase the success stories of safe injection sights and treatment centres. We don’t showcase all the ways which we make it more difficult every day for any of us to survive (lack of healthcare, living wages, affordable homes, being perscribed addictive substances by form of treatment and then being criminalized for their use), and approach it with the understanding that each of us is one illness, one error, one lapse of judgement, one missed step from being the next feature on some dickheads social media reel because we’re doing something that looks “off” or “funny” and “needs awareness”.
We are wholly aware. Arguably, we are too aware.
And all the awareness in the world does not encourage most of us to care enough to act.
And that fucks me up because how do we combat that?
Jaimee Eat World 
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