Weekly Photo Challenge: (Dis)connected.

The world has changed. There was a time (really?) when (some) people listened to opposing viewpoints, despite radical differences. President Kruger dined with Queen Victoria. Despite the grumblings of the government, talks were held in Dakar. Some still hail the Truth and Reconciliation process as a miracle. And, who can forget the optimism of the voters in 1994, even when they anticipated radical changes?

But it seems as if the world has become an increasingly intolerant place. Somehow, the modern tendency is toward individuality. The more densely the world is populated, the more we tend to isolate ourselves.

The lines of communication simply don’t work that well any longer – which is absolutely ridiculous with all the modern systems at our disposal. All the technology to make it easier to talk and listen, hasn’t done much to improve the situation.

It’s as if we’ve lost connection with each other, as if the switches joining us as a human family, simply do not work any more.

We’ve divided the world up amongst ourselves to create borders. As long as something happens on the other side of these imaginary lines, we soothe ourselves by telling each other it’s not our problem. We’re not involved…they must sort it out themselves.

And so we isolate, separate, dissociate, detach, divide, alienate and disengage – falsely believing that the human race is an unconnected and diverse species.

Sadly, this can have only one result.

(Except for the election photo, the images are from Kolmanskop near Luderitz, Namibia)