what's going on in victoria at the moment seems to have been one of those things that crept up on me; you imagine things are under control, you miss out on a couple of days of news because you've been otherwise engaged having a gorgeous weekend in the sun (sounds superficial now, i know), then all of a sudden it gets to sunday night, you turn on the news, and everything has gone to shit.
i think most people know at least the basic facts of the story, so i won't go into it. i'm not a huge fan of repeating horrific stories for drama's sake: while it is important that people are wholly aware of what is going on, i think oftentimes victims' stories should be left to those who knew them, those who would take whatever solace they could from hearing about their loved one's last hours. or if not comfort (for in this instance how can it be so?), at least be able to know what happened. i am deliberately not using the word closure here. that approach is usually best left to current affairs shows trying to wring from interviewees every last tear that has not yet been shed. and they do it so well, don't they?
anyway, it has emerged over the last few days that at least some of the fires are suspected to be the result of arson. this is undoubtedly going to sound simplistic, but seriously, what is the matter with people sometimes? say you're an arsonist, what makes you light that fire? my friend greggy told me that arsonists often have erotic reactions to uncontrollable blazes, and so light them purely for the pleasure of sitting in a nearby bush, quietly getting off on blanket destruction.
look, i'm not one to impose my views on how people could and should have a good time. but when a tangential outcome of what you're doing affects innocent individuals to the tune of 130 and rising, i really do have to take issue. and to be honest, it really just gives me the shits. what right do they have to spark something that yields so many victims, to destroy land that is not theirs to annihilate? the seflishness and insensitivity of it is staggering. i suppose we can take comfort from the fact that once they are found (and i don't see how they can't be, seeing that the entire nation is already galvanised to action, baying for, if not blood, then justice)they'll get what they deserve. and yet it doesn't really seem enough - it never really seems enough, actually. just think about port arthur, or bali. retroactive justice cools the blood of the injured and left behind, but can it really, adequately, soothe a family's, or a nation's, grief? It doesn't seem to prevent these occurences engendering feelings of helplessness, or injustice.
i dunno. nothing that i've said here is original, the questions i ask have all been asked before. so i apologise if this post is boring, or preachy, or self-indulgent. it won't happen again. if only the same could be said about what is happening now.
