Sunday, January 04, 2009

Socrates on what makes life worthwhile ...

To Who It May Concern,

I recently came across the following paragraphs …
“…So what makes life worthwhile?
The life and death of Socrates is instructive in answering this question. Socrates himself chose to drink the poisonous hemlock when his fellow Athenians condemned him to death for disturbing the city’s good order by disseminating his beliefs and ethical teachings. He turned down the offer to escape the penalty and leave Athens for sanctuary because he judged that his life would not be worthwhile if he did not do what he believed to be the right thing, and stand by his moral principles publicly. Along with many others throughout history, Socrates demonstrated that that which is most worth living for may also be worth dying for.
The examples of Socrates and other great leaders such as Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Rachel Carson and Aung San Suu Kyi suggest that the life worth living is one that is lived for a worthwhile reason, one which goes beyond self-interest and ultimately, if necessary, beyond self-preservation. The ethical life then is part of what Peter Singer describes as the ‘great tradition of those who have responded to the amount of pain and suffering in the universe by trying to make it a better place’. ”

Understanding Ethics, Noel Preston (The Federation Press, Third Edition 2007) Chapter One - The Ethical Challenge, P7-8

As a culmination of many experiences I can relate to Socrates thoughts and feelings described above. Despite my best efforts to gain safety, security, advocacy and justice for my children, myself and other Australian children and women trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial failures another Christmas has gone by without my children and family ever being able to enjoy this celebration together, another year has ended without me having been able to bring any change to our dangerous and traumatic situation, another year has passed where I have done my best to share information with the those in government and the domestic violence “industry”, who despite the life and death consequences for children and women, and despite having the power, privilege and influence to demand and provide safety, security, justice and advocacy for children and women who have experienced domestic violence, refuse to assist us.

Over many, many years I have tried to remain hopeful and set worthwhile goals to believe in and work towards, tried to visualise safe, positive outcomes for my daughters and myself where we get to participate in collaborative, creative and meaningful activities together …sometimes to hold on to hope I imagined my daughters and I presenting to the United Nations … my eldest daughter and I have already presented together on the issues of family and domestic violence giving the last class to my University sociology class where she read her story “Emily Feels Left Out” and I showed the documentary I was involved with, “How Then Shall We Live: A Process for Developing a Plan to Escape Abusive Relationships”, and encouraged the students to expect respectful relationships in all area of their lives (see post “On being a student … and being a teacher” at www.womenwhowant2gohome.blogspot.com the online resource created in the form of a blog) … sometimes I just dreamt of us having fun together with my family in Australia (See posts “I have a dream..” and “Letter to the Prime Minister”, on my online resource/blog, as well as “Hope…”, “The Perils of Indifference…” and “Further out of view … further out of mind …” )

Even the most cursory glance at the list I have compiled of Australians I have contacted begging for assistance, support, advocacy, care and compassion for Australian children and women trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial inadequicies and inequities posted on my online resource/blog) will show how strategic I have attempted to be in whom I researched and selected to share information with and beg for assistance for myself and my children, the other Australian woman and her four children who had a similar traumatic experience in the same foreign jurisdiction - and all Australian children and women in similar traumatic and dangerous circumstances. The individuals and organisations listed include those many would recognise as having made public statements regarding their personal “zero tolerance” of violence against women and children, children and women’s right to safety, and our collective responsibility to provide children and women who have experienced domestic violence with the safety and justice they need and deserve.

Many would be familiar with some of these people’s very public and adamant insistence that the government was responsible for intervening on behalf or David Hicks (who chose to go overseas to support the Taliban, an organisation that believes in denying women and girls their human rights) and ensuring he experienced “judicial fairness”. These individuals and organisations have had many opportunities to, as Peter Singer describes, be part of the “great tradition of those who have responded to the amount of pain and suffering in the universe by trying to make it a better place” by assisting and advocating for us, and instead have chosen to keep the secret of this violence and injustice against children and women. Not only have these individuals and organisations ignored my pleas for support and assistance, but also have not used the information I have provided to prevent any other Australians experiencing a similar trauma.

All it would take is for those who “say” they find violence against children and women unacceptable to actually “do” something, for someone to speak up publicly in a way that would bring us safety while protecting our privacy, to bring these traumatic lived realities and issues into the public discourse, to encourage others to ask why this is allowed to happen to children and women and publicly advocate for and with us to make it safe for us to “speak our truth”.

Every day of not being able to protect my children is like a dose of poisonous hemlock; every day of not being able to get anyone to respond to my desperate appeals for assistance is toxic to my soul and spirit.
Experiencing domestic and family violence is very traumatic, experiencing systemic and judicial injustices is very traumatic, discovering that your country and government will not provide assistance for innocent and vulnerable Australian children and women is another indescribable traumatic experience.

As Australian children and women trapped overseas by domestic violence and systemic and judicial failures are denied any assistance, support or compassion from Australian authorities, (unlike Australians overseas who choose to participate in criminal activities such as drug trafficking or Australians who are victims of other forms of violence) and are told we have to deal with this unjust and unsafe situation in a foreign country on our own, after the many years of fighting the systems that should have protected us, I no longer have the resources to continue. I no longer have the hope, capacity, finances or resources to continue to advocate for us or to continue to believe in a better, safer future for us. I am desperately concerned about my children, myself, the other Australian woman mentioned in my online resource/blog and her children’s safety and wellbeing, my personal possessions and documents, none of whom or which I have any resources or ability to advocate for or try to protect any longer.

Without immediate provision of compassion, resources, advocacy and support for my children and myself to obtain the safety and justice we need and deserve I can no longer do what I “believed to be the right thing” and speak up for our human rights, and there is no possibility of a “worthwhile” or “ethical life”- which is as intolerable a concept for me as it was for Socrates.

“Merinda”
www.womenwhowant2gohome.blogspot.com

“The only thing necessary for evil to prevail is for (supposedly) good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke (Statesman and political thinker)

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