Hello Simon, I hope it's alright to ask for advice. These past few months, I've struggled significantly with moving through my everyday life as I watch the genocide in Palestine. I've watched it all my life, but this is unparalleled. I've been turning frequently to history to find some comfort or a blueprint on how to respond, how to resist as community. I wanted to ask you, as someone who has seen humanity at its worst so many times, do you know how a person might keep faith in a better future?
When the camps were liberated during the war, and I saw for the first time, the carnage of it all, I felt a mixture of feelings, and rage was one. Another was guilt, that I hadnât done something other than abstain. But I couldnât fight another war. Even for a good cause. Humans trifle with life because they never actually believe they can die. And some seek any pleasure they can findâweak little children.
Iâve hated your species my entire life
But then againâŠI remember the rebellions, the revolutions, the drastic shifts in short periods. I remember art and technology. I remember that there is always a bigger picture. I remember after the great fire, so much destruction, but so few lives lost. I remember how people helped one another. I remember friends I have had, great moments of change, the poetry of your thoughts.
I have lived your species my entire life.
Humanity is not in defiance of nature. Itâs not moving past it. Itâs fulfilling it, and it will either rise, or it will fall silent. That is something each of you must decide separately.
I worry that your culture has become so disheartened and selfish, that it isnât possible for people to have the courage they will need, but reallyâŠIâm not sure I blame them.
You must find the anger. The righteous fury. You must find the will to be furious and consistent and troublesome. Do EVERYTHING. And then remember how much your actions impact others you cannot even imagine.
I never thought people would ask me for advice when I published, but then it began happening. As many horrible traumatic stories Iâve heard preceding questions, I have just as many thanking me for taking it seriously. I did not expect to mean anything to anyone, but I have seen that it is possible to affect people I never knew I could.
I think back on my life and reexamine moments, and I wonderâŠhow often did I affect someone without noticing and how might it have changed history?
Your actions, even the small ones, have weight, but you cannot do the action to receive immediate payback. You must pursue it because itâs right, and youâre ready for the long road.
Hopelessness stops action. Anger fuels it, so long as you can harness it and give it task after task. Listen to the weak, not the strong. Listen to the poor and the starving. Learn how to think rationally, systematically. To be critical. Help because you can and because itâs right. And as someone greater than I once said, look for the other helpers.
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