It can be difficult, at times, not to lose faith in humanity.
Late last year, an Australian friend came to join Marinho and I in our search. He was looking forward to being a part of The Human, Earth Project, he said, because he’d lost his faith in humanity, and hoped to find it again.
Although I didn’t tell him at the time, I’d been feeling the same way when I first conceived the Project, and still feel that way at times.
Here in India, over the past six weeks, I’ve seen human beings behave in terribly cruel and predatory ways towards one other. Their motivations are always the same: sex and money.
Is human trafficking merely a symptom of human nature?
Are the sale and purchase of human beings for profit and pleasure merely extreme manifestations of a much deeper social disease?
What, after all, is civilisation?
There are many standards by which civilisation might be measured, many figures that might be collected, tallied and compared. I have my own definition and, as far as I’m concerned, it’s the only one that matters:
A civilised society is one in which the strong support the weak, rather than preying upon them.
Are we truly civilised?
From the largest of our financial, political, religious and corporate institutions down to our most intimate personal relationships, it seems that we as a global community still have a long road ahead of us.
My unexpected sojourn here in India has not been wasted. I’ve begun post-production on our feature-length anti-trafficking documentary, Sisters For Sale, and have a surprise for you all coming very soon.
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