It is the year anniversary of the war in Ukraine. The one thing I have learnt from dystopia novels is that in war there are never any winners only survivors. It is scary to think after the devastating consequences of the World War’s we would be in the same situation again but yet here we are. I can’t help but think of the quote from Mockingjay, ‘We’re fickle stupid beings with poor memories and a great gift for self-destruction’. With the wars still continuing in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine as well as Ukraine I just hope and pray that there will be a time where ceasefire is an option, more so I pray for the innocent people who are caught up in other people’s mess and destruction. Links on donations and how to help will be down below.
The publicity surrounding Roald Dahl’s books- this kind of cancel culture society we are living in can be quite damaging. For a long time now I really wanted to make a post on cancel culture but I am not ready to put my thoughts down because I am conflicted. In some cases I do stand by it wholeheartedly but there is a part of me that doesn’t stand by it because of the place it held on society. I think if we cancel everything are we not trying to create a utopia or to make advancements towards it. If we cancel everything how will we learn from our mistakes, are we just going to ignore the history of the society that came before us and the ideals and values they held. The past shows us how far we have come, the changes made, but if we cancel it and re-write it than in a way are we not re-writing history. In the case of the books I can see why the some of the description of the characters used can be deemed offensive, however as a child who grew up reading the books I personally didn’t analyse every single term to let it affect me, because as a child who would. I read it for entertainment and escapism, the description allowed me to have an exact image of a character in my head and it wasn’t used (to my childhood mind) in a bad way. However if it is being labelled as offensive wouldn’t you start to think of it as that way (kind of reminding me of the self-fulfilling prophecy). I read they were publishing two sets the original version and the modified version where they censorship the offensive words and I like that people (parents) get a choice which to choose for their children to read. I do feel it is important to acknowledge that it can be offensive to some people and I think it is important people have a choice of which version they can choose to read.
Further reading- https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/25/roald-dahl-threatened-publisher-with-enormous-crocodile-if-they-changed-his-words
Nicola Bulley’s death has left me heartbroken and my heart goes out for her family and her children. I think the public has lost faith in the police so taking matters in their own hands- although justified to an extent- I can see where they are coming from it can be quite damaging to the overall investigation. I think this cultural phenomenon and social media’s hype of kind of trying to investigate true crime stories and trying to gain publicity for themselves in this case of doing it purely for selfish reasons is disgusting. Now that her body is found I just hope questions are answered and justice is served. It also raises the discussion of the safety of women.
Shamima Begum lost her legal fight to obtain citizenship- I recently watched the BBC documentary and it was interesting to hear her side of the story. She believes that she was a victim and was groomed. You have to remember she was a teenager and vulnerable the doc raises the question of how the UK could have prevented this situation from happening. It was interesting to hear her life in ISIS and the heartbreaking news of her loss of her children. Her mental health, the fact that she was a child, the media and publicity surrounding her does make me have sympathy for her. However there is a part of me that understands that if she comes back the danger that she could potentially pose. I think the doc is interesting to watch and would definitely recommend. Link- https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001j079/the-shamima-begum-story
Turkey and Syria’s earthquake- The second earthquake has left even more of a devastating effect. The interesting analysis from Vox (link-) highlights how the buildings made by the government was not up to the regulation standards and how they cut corners. It reminds me (of course no comparison) but of the Grenfell tower, why were the standards not checked upon. Why wasn’t the buildings made a priority especially when it sits on a fault line. The buildings that are regularly made like this in third world countries is damaging because in unprecedented situations like this it can literally be a matter of life and death situation changes need to be made. Donations are still vital so links will be down below, no matter how much or how less every donation counts so please donate.
Vox video- https://www.vox.com/videos/2023/2/16/23602986/turkey-syria-earthquake-soft-story-buildings-collapse
Links to donate- Links to donate:
https://www.sktwelfare.org/donate-now/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-uaU2fOK_QIVhuvtCh3zYAGcEAAYASAAEgJK_PD_BwE
Please donate as every donation makes a difference.
With Love and Dua's,
Fiz @Every Page She Turns
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