Important men in suits meet to discuss war and money, while thousands of children are left to starve.
We are left wondering — how is this ever going to end?
And what we can do?
But just before the door slams shut and we are left in total darkness, there’s always a sliver of light that escapes to point the way forward.
I found that sliver of light in a story from last Friday’s News, which told us Berry St students had raised $400 for Shepparton’s angel of light, Azem Elmaz, and his charity, People Supporting People.
A charity that helps young people know safety and love, helps another charity that feeds and supports the homeless and the unloved.
In a world where our newsfeeds are saturated daily with darkness and violence, here was a reminder of the innate goodness in people.
I first met Azem during the bushfires of 2009, when he shut the doors of his Wyndham St restaurant to slave in the blistering heat to cook and serve free meals to volunteer firefighters in Violet Town.
I reported many times since on his food truck for the homeless, his army of volunteers and his quiet unpaid efforts to provide dignity and sanctuary for the desperate with toilet and washing facilities at the rear of his restaurant.
I always asked him, “Why do you do this, Azem? What motivates you?”
His reply was always the same: “Because these people need help.”
It was delivered with a look of astonishment the question even needed to be asked.
It also came with an unspoken assurance this is what normal, decent, caring people do everywhere.
The staff and volunteers at Berry St operate with a similar altruism.
The same unselfish attitude is happening now with the offer of charity Blaze Aid to deliver donated feed cost-free to drought-stricken farmers in Australia’s south-east.
These people do not operate from a sense of duty, or transactional reward, or even religious belief.
They do it because, to them, it is the right thing to do.
So is justice and fairness wired into our DNA?
Yale philosopher and psychologist Paul Bloom makes a compelling argument that humans are wired for fairness.
In his book Just Babies, he cites a study where a child and their friend were given two options when it came to sharing sweets.
In the first, both children were offered two sweets each.
In the second option one was offered three sweets and the other offered five sweets.
This second option meant they were both better off, but they recognised the unfairness, and both chose the first option.
Of course, children are influenced by their surroundings and family, but Bloom says his research indicates our moral foundations are not solely acquired through learning but are to some extent the result of biological evolution.
So, we are wired for good — because co-operation requires goodness, which has helped us survive as a species.
In times like these, Bloom’s observations and Azem’s actions fill us with hope.
However, poetry always reaches deeper into the heart than science.
So, here’s Martin Luther King’s observation:
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
Right now, the arc may be passing through a landscape of shadows, and the shed door with the box of light is closing.
But there are still enough slivers of goodness to light the way.
John Lewis is a former journalist at The News.
