37 degrees C in the shade

I remember a film called '37 degres a l'ombre' (37 degrees C in the shade) which came out when I was at university. The concept of it being so hot in the shade was something I could not comprehend as I had never experienced such high temperatures. It was so perplexing to me and puzzling, that it took many years to understand that when we have no experience of something, it all seems very strange. And sometimes the unknown is so shocking that our reaction is one of sheer terror. In London this week, a young man lost his life in the worst possible way. He was going about his business as we all do every day. In the course of doing what he always did, he died. We live in confusing times where the unknown is quite literally causing outrage and intense emotion, one of which is fear. Society evolved because a majority agreed to follow a code of conduct and one which obtained acceptance through trial and error and judgement. If that code is rejected by a fraction who wish to view the world differently then we must must determine how best to uphold the values that have taken thousands of years to become accepted practice. In my understanding, this is also how the law evolved.

A man lost his life. And every time one of us, regardless of colour, race, belief or anything else, is murdered in cold blood, we cannot just carry on. We must consider why we have reached this point and how we will make sure it will never happen again.

We look to our politicians who I can only imagine whilst sipping their G&Ts, were suitably aghast at what had happened. But since then, silence. I do not buy that certain sectors of the society are disenfranchised and feel that they do not belong or have a future. The world is populated by thousands if not millions who have escaped poverty by hard work, sacrifice and a belief in themselves. Why is that such an alien concept to us in the West where we feel that the world owes us something? And why are we so skewed in our thinking that instead of developing a soul life and becoming better human beings, we choose the easy way out. One where the lazy mind chooses destructive, criminal behaviour. Men do bad things because they can. This is the fundamental issue that sums up the human condition and which has eluded us all, as to why we have that choice, since the beginning of time.