Day 1 at the "Western Regional International Health Conference: War and Global Health"
Like I've mentioned on the previous post, I am attending the WRIHC this year. I was one of the first people to check in. Well, I have to go to class during the midday and really, that was the only time that I could register before actually attending the sessions.
The first session I got the chance to attend was one of the pre-conference session, "Roadmap to Security: A Meeting of the Minds on Inequality, Conflict and Health." First, we were introduced the definitions of war, and we discussed about what constitutes the 'warless' society. At that point, we came to the conclusion that the warless society requires an unsegmented society, where there's no form of intrinsic or extrinsic commodity. Everyone is therefore born equal.
The idea that was mentioned that had never crossed my mind before is that fact that when we allow our country to go to war, we (as a collective group of human beings) are accepting those casualties and deaths that we know come along with a war; that there will be a winner and also a loser. (Ouch! That hurts to the bones, but I gotta admit that that is indeed true... as much as I do not want to accept it.)
The funny thing was that someone mentioned that we go to war when it's only profitable for us.
So there I was, sitting in the crowded room, being presented with the concept of war and inequality. All I can think about is the situation back home. Yes, we are on the verge of civil war. No matter how hard you deny it, the situation in Thailand right now might result in the civil war, not triggered by the differences in ethnicity, not differences in race. But we are going to war with our own people, simply due to the differences in opinion and perception. To me, that is just plain scary.
Then we participated in an activity, in which we were to think about the root cause of war. "Why do we go to war?" Ugh! How am I supposed to answer that? But we were told to think back step by step. This method actually is actually very thought-provoking, and the discussion that followed definitely widen my perspective on the root cause of war.
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After that I've got a chance to listen to Chris Hedges, the Keynote speaker. The topic of his address was "War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning."
To be honest, when i was listening to his address, all I wanted to say to him was "dude, why so pessimistic?" He talked a lot about the experiences as a journalist in the warfare scene. His thoughts were just plain.. sick. He was describing how human nature drives the individuals in the military to this adrenaline rush when one knows one has the power to ruin, not just an object, but another human being's life. He also mentioned that you would never find friends in the context of war. Not even that, he was talking about how some people never actually find true friendship in their whole life, and there are some who are fortunate enough to like.. find a couple friends. At that point, I was like.. "dude, what the hell, why so dark?" And I knew it that he was going to mention Freud and how he described the "id" self as a part of our brutal self. AND HE DID! That was all I can think of him, and I was on the mindset of "what-is-wrong-with-this-person?" until....
Until after the end of his address during the questions and answers time, one of the thing that we have mentioned is about how he survived from such an inhumanitarian society in the context of war, how he remiain humane after all the he'd been true. He mentioned that he has PTSD and it takes him more than 3 years to get over. Even now, there are some occasion events that revisit him in the form of dreams. He talked about his struggle to come back, how he drank as the solution to not remember those tragic incidences he had experienced. I feel pity for him..
However, his last few lines just got to me when he was telling a story, about how he picked up his daughter from school, and was making her a Peanut butter and jelly sandwich for her. And she asked him, I don't know how you do it, to live the life that you lived and then come back to this "boring" moment of making PJ sandwiches. What he said after that, just make me want to cry on the spot... he responded, it is because the life that I had lived, that made me realize how sacred a moment like this is, making pj sandwich for my daughter..
:'(
It just makes me think a lot... about my own life. Although I haven't lived my life for that long, I have not experienced all the things that are out there in the world... But I have realized the values and the significance of family in such a harsh way.. It was not deaths, but it was the fear of deaths for the family members. Being here in United States, of course, isolated me from the rest of my family, who is on the other side of the world. But how can I forget that night, that night.. that I thought I'd lose my father forever. It just makes me who I am today, makes me realize that family is one of the most important thing you actually possessed. :( So I almost cried when he said that...
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