Thought for the Day
If a butterfly flutters its wings, so chaos theory goes, it can cause the path of a tornado to change, and so the reverberations can be felt across the world. In retrospect, it looks as if what was happening to the cost of food in the Middle East a few years ago had just that impact. The frustrations of Tunisian fruitsellers and the seething anger of Egyptians over the price of basic foodstuffs were ignored by the rest of the world then but analysts have since traced them as the roots of the Arab Spring upheavals.
Food shortages and high prices have had consequences throughout the ages as the history of revolutions reminds us. No wonder that politicians and the United Nations are becoming increasingly concerned about rising prices leading to a global food crisis. Drought, the diversion of corn crops into the production of biofuels, the corruption and chaotic distribution of food in some developing nations, all these are shaping a complex global food economy. Add in certain speculators and food conglomerates aiming for higher profits, and many aid charities warn that this is a recipe for disaster for the poorest in the developing world.
But what's it got to do with the ordinary individual? Isn't something as complex as a food crisis just for the politicians and the UN to sort out? Morality is surely personal, as is a relationship with God, and one's religious beliefs stretch as far as dealing with those immediately around us. Once in a while the face of a starving child on the news might persuade us to make a donation to a charity but the individual's involvement goes no further. The usual reading of Christ's parable of the Good Samaritan, for example, is that it is a call to respond to an individual in need, albeit that Christianity is a call to help the stranger as well as family and friends. But growing Christian thinking is that if we hunger and thirst for what is right then we cannot turn away when something has gone deeply wrong with how the world functions, causing the most vulnerable to suffer. Putting a few coins in a collecting tin is not enough. Instead the Christian has to combat what is called structural or social sin, the injustices of the world caused by its systems and institutions which lead people to live without dignity and the resources that they need. But structures of course don't have wills, and we do, and the challenge today is to ask do we have the will to speak up, get involved and change what is unjust? Or will we pass by on the other side of the road?
混沌学理论提到，如果一只蝴蝶扇动翅膀，龙卷风的路线会因其改变，全世界都将感觉到随之而来的影响。回顾往昔，若干年前中东粮食价格的波动和此如出一辙。当时，其它国家并没有重视中东态势，突尼斯水果商因基本食品价格心情沮丧，埃及人则愤懑不已，然而，分析家们认定，当时的情形就是动荡不安的“阿拉伯之春”的根源。
几年来，粮食短缺和高昂的物价带来的后果和以往革命带来的后果一样。难怪政客和联合国都越来越担心上涨的物价会导致全球粮食危机。旱灾、利用玉米生产生物燃料、某些发展中国家食品分配过程中存在的贪污现象，这些正使全球食品经济变得复杂。许多慈善援助机构都发出警告，谋求暴利的投机商和食品大公司的参与将为发展中国家的贫苦人民带去深重的灾难。
普通人应该怎么做？和食品危机同等复杂的问题是否只有靠政客和联合国去解决？道德和上帝相关，是绝对私人的。一个人的宗教信仰能改变他与周围人相处的方式。新闻里孩子挨饿的面孔可能一时间让我们捐款给慈善机构，但个人的行为并不会产生深远的影响。有关乐善好施的人的基督教寓言故事旨在号召人们对需要帮助的人施以援手，尽管基督精神就是让人们像对待家人和朋友那样对待陌生人。然而，越来越多的基督教徒认为如果我们渴求正义，那么当世界局势混乱，最脆弱的人民受苦受难时，我们不能视而不见。往募捐罐里丢几枚硬币是远远不够的。相反，基督教徒们必须与恶行斗争，与各制度、各组织产生的不公正现象斗争，它使人们失去了应有的尊严与智慧。当然，具有意愿的不是社会机构，而是我们。面临当今的挑战，我们是大声疾呼，踊跃参与，改变不公正的现象，还是熟视无睹地从旁边走过？
—— By cherryxyr
retrospect [ˈretrəspekt] n.回顾
In retrospect, it's easy to see why we were wrong. 回顾过去就很容易明白我们的错处了。
seethe [si:ð] vi.拥挤，云集；发怒，激动，骚动
She was seething with rage at his remarks. 对于他的说法, 她气得火冒三丈。
upheaval [ʌpˈhi:vəl] n.剧变，动乱
political, social upheavals 政治的、社会的动乱
speculator [ˈspekjuleitə] n. 投机者(商)
Speculators are thick on the ground. They buy up land, sit on it for a month or two and resell for twice what they paid.
投机者多得很，他们买下土地，搁置一两个月后又以双倍的价格卖出去。
conglomerate [kənˈglɔmərit] n. （通过合并若干企业而组建的）大公司, 企业集团
a mining, chemical, etc conglomerate 矿业、化工等企业集团
parable [ˈpærəbəl] n.寓言，比喻
Good Samaritan <喻>好心人,乐善好施的人
My neighbour was a good Samaritan when I sprained my ankle. She did all my shopping and took the dog for a walk every day.
当我扭了脚脖子时，我的邻居不厌其烦地帮助我。她帮我购买所有的物品并每天帮我去遛狗。
“阿拉伯之春”，又称“阿拉伯的觉醒”、“阿拉伯起义”，是指自2010年年底在北非和西亚的阿拉伯国家和其它地区的一些国家发生的一系列以“民主”和“经济”等为主题的社会运动，这些运动多采取公开示威游行和网络串连的方式，其影响之深、范围之广、爆发之突然、来势之迅猛吸引了全世界的高度关注，从2011年初开始至今尚未完全结束。
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