In August 2016, for a brief day or so, you may remember seeing a Syrian boy named Omran, on the news. The young toddler with blood pasted on his face after a bombing struck the city of Aleppo, once again. Omran, more fortunate than most, survived the attack that shattered his city. However, he was caught under the remaining debris caused by the Russian bombing and it took him over an hour to be rescued. For a boy under five-years-old, or of any age, a traumatic experience such as this can be detrimental. A video was posted of the young toddler, showing the shock he was in after the event took place. He sits still and meek in the back of the ambulance as the turmoil surrounds him on every side. His parents, also in the attack, were rescued shortly after him and they luckily survived.
Aleppo, one of Syrian's largest cities is known for its violence and corruption, with near 20,000 deaths in the last five years. With an issue this pertinent taking place in the world, it is striking that it can be forgotten within a mere 48 hours. Our minds are quickly shifted to thinking about absurdity, such as a precious Miss Universe being called "Miss Piggy" by Donald Trump, or which presidential candidate is tweeting the worst insult about the other. Devastatingly, the people of Aleppo and children such as Omran, are facing tragedies every day. Our news and our focus should be turned toward issues such as this, rather than following tweets and gossip day-in and day out. In fact, we have our Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson, who failed to recall knowing the city of Aleppo, which was demonstrated on MSNBC recently. The city being the last major urban area in Syria with an ISIS stronghold, it seems almost impossible to be oblivious to this city and the continuing conflicts there. Yet, an America presidential candidate is seemingly unaware of this cities existence.
So, my question is: How can we entertain the idea of a presidential candidate that is unaware of world issues such as this? We can't, we simply cannot allow it. And even though said candidate has a small percentage of votes, it is a wonder how anyone could see him as electable. Being a part of a society that is as fortunate as ours, it is more than significant to make yourself aware of what is going on in the world, and to abstain from simply listening to the news or Facebook. We have to educate ourselves in order to ever see change. We have to focus on significant tragedies such as Omran's and the rest of Aleppo, and refuse to be distracted by what social media wants us to see. Although Omran was able to escape death, there are many young children trapped in the besieged city that are less fortunate.
