"I wanna talk today about the refugee crisis going on around the world but let's begin with an old saying often attributed to that great expert in the field of human evil, Joseph Stalin. 'When one man dies, that's a tragedy. When thousands die, that's a statistic.'
Large numbers can feel cold and distant and even kind of comforting because they don't feel like people. And I think that's one of the reasons much of the world was able to ignore the years old Syrian refugee crisis until recently. But then, after thousands of refugees died this year trying to get to Europe, one three year old boy's body washed ashore in Turkey. His name was Aylan Kurdi, and he drowned with his five year old brother and his mom trying to get to Greece."
- John Green
I have thought a lot about what John Green said, and I think it's very true.
More than a million people reached Europe in 2015 in the continent's largest refugee influx since the end of World War II (statistic). Nearly 3,800 people are estimated to have drowned in the Mediterranean last year, making the journey to Greece or Italy in unseaworthy vessels packed far beyond capacity (statistic).
Ai Weiwei has said, "The border is not in Lesbos, it really (is) in our minds and in our hearts."
With Humans of New York, Brandon Stanton has let us see into the lives of 12 different Syrian refugee families preparing to embark to the United States.
All of this is a lead up to say... we get lulled by statistics to see unique individuals as less than who they are... humans. Distinct, singular, exceptional people.
Volvo has come out with a new advertisement that is definitely worth your time to watch...
