How would the world be different if we all spoke the same language?  Would we listen to each other?  Is language really an issue?  Or is the apathy of too many people in the Western world that is perpetuated by the illusion of being too far removed geographically?  We don’t even understand each other on this side of the globe?  Heck, in North America we are strangers to each other if we have not traveled a little and even travelling only gives you a hint of what is going on in different states or provinces in North America.

Visiting Toronto, New York City or San Francisco for instance, is not the same as living there.  People give their perception on life in these mega cities.  Some even argue with me about what life is like in Toronto. [I am chuckling at that because I lived there for thirteen years. Heck!  What do I know, right?]  That said, even while living in Ontario, I was surprised to hear what people “thought” they knew about Québec.

I wonder what children are learning in history classes across the country.  My manager told me the other day that a friend of his in Nova Scotia said, John Cabot discovered Canada…really?  Um, I thought he discovered Newfoundland and Samuel Champlain discovered Québec.     I always learned in history that Canada was discovered by  Jacques Cartier, and he gave it the Huron-Iroquois name, “kanata” which means settlement.

I think this blogger explains misinformation so much better than me:

“Politics is bigger than us all, we can do nothing about it, it is a filthy game of interests and calculations. But life is ours, stories are ours, it is within our reach to empower others, it is within our reach to inform others about a reality of a whole country torn by war but still doing the impossible to celebrate life. It is within our reach to bridge the gaps between each other and get over political, social, religious and ethnic differences just for the sake of the one and only, for the sake of Syria.

People form their opinions and absorbs stereotypes based on what they receive on media; we have no right to complain about how that media works unless we offer an alternative.” Source: http://jamilaeyes.com/

So I suppose I have answered my question about language not being the real issue.  The news reported by mainstream media in US and Canada is too often questionable. [I am only mentioning North American because this is where I live.]  Yet, in this age of technology, there is no reason not to be curious enough and see what is being said in other parts of the world by people who are living and breathing their own realities and not just take for granted that we, foreigners, reporting in other countries may not have all the information. Sometimes we just don’t ask the right questions or is it that we choose which questions to ask to get answers we want to believe?”

nature’s jest
clear waters always flow
in babbling brooks

©Tournesol’17/02/26

Even after reading a few articles on the same subject to see if I can sift through what is truth and what is not, I still know little.  But, I refuse to believe mainstream media at face value anymore…just tired of it.  Thankfully,  blogging has gotten me closer to the other side of the globe and we also share the love of poetry and storytelling.

How I choose to learn more now is by listening to people telling their stories in their own words.

Daily moments – tower of Babel – haiku – Feb 26 2017

This was written for Linda G. Hill on her Friday reminder for SoCS.