The thing to remember here is that a truly ethical person will not ignore an injustice, even when fighting against it seems (almost) hopeless. Sure, some injustices are harder to get rid of than others. One looks at the slightly lower levels of meat consumption in the US, and is encouraged, and then one sees the skyrocketing meat consumption in "developing" countries like China and can't help but have some of the wind knocked out of one's sails. There are two things that we have to remember here: 1) We cannot solve all of the world's problems, and 2) The fact that we can't solve all of the world's problems shouldn't prevent us from trying to solve some of them. And we should do this ACTIVELY. Posting "this is horrible" comments online is not really getting active. Instead, why not donate some of your time and/or money to organizations that truly help improve the world? Why not get political and start pressuring your representatives to start making more ethical choices? Why not get involved in creating more fair legislation? Why not stop eating meat? Or buying clothes that are made is sweatshops? Why not stop supporting corporations that screw the environment and make lots of money doing so? These are all examples of active helping. Why not make one of your resolutions for 2016 to become a more informed individual and to make more ethical choices?
Sometimes people get so overwhelmed by all the horrible things happening in the world that they end up doing nothing at all to improve things. They forget that some things can indeed be improved. Are you saddened by the fact that so many dogs and cats live (and die) in shelters? Why not make one of your 2016 resolutions to adopt a friend for life? Are you the kind of person that complains about violence in the world, but has no problem picking up that pork chop, steak, chicken thigh, or piece of fried fish? Well, there's a big problem there, because the meat (and other animal products) that you consume are directly responsible for a lot of the violence in the world, not to mention the environmental damage that the various meat, egg, and dairy industries cause. Hate violence? Want a peaceful world? Why not make going vegan (or at least vegetarian) one of your resolutions for 2016?
2015 was not a good year for people "coming together", and 2016 might be even worse if we're not careful. The refugee crisis was one of the issues that really polarized people. This was one of those "tests of our humanity", and, unfortunately, many of us failed that test by allowing our latent prejudices (and, in many cases, hatred) steer us away from a compassionate course. When we begin to fear other people, focusing on our differences instead of what makes us all human beings, there is a problem. When we allow the actions of a few extremists to blacken our view of a majority of people that want nothing to do with those extremists, there is a problem. When I visited Cuba many years ago, I remember a Cuban family inviting me into their home, and even though they had almost nothing, not even a real roof, they shared everything they had with me. Why not make one of your resolutions for 2016 to be more like them?
I wish you all a very good 2016. If you really care about this world of ours, I hope that you remember that, to paraphrase Gandhi, we can indeed be the change that we want to see. More importantly, I hope you have the courage and conviction to be that change. This year, let's all take a step away from selfishness, and towards a more empathetic approach to life.
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