1.31.2011

Java, January 31

I was walking through a slum in Jakarta a couple days ago, and I did make some photographs. But I feel like this scene that Seth pulled up from The Year of Living Dangerously sums up some of the thoughts I had about the experience best...

Scene One: Year of Living Dangerously
  
BILLY
And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? 

GUY
What's that?

BILLY
It's from Luke, chapter three, verse ten. What then must we do? Tolstoy asked the same question. He wrote a book with that title. He got so upset about the poverty in Moscow that he went one night into the poorest section and just gave away all his money. You could do that now. Five American dollars would be a fortune to one of these people.

GUY
Wouldn't do any good, just be a drop in the ocean.

BILLY
Aah, that's the same conclusion Tolstoy came to, I disagree.

GUY
Oh, what's your solution?

BILLY
Well, I support the view that you just don't think about the major issues. You do whatever you can about the misery that's in front of you. Add your light to the sum of light. You think that's naive, don't you?

GUY
Yep.

BILLY
It's alright, most journalists do.

GUY
We can't afford to get involved.

BILLY
Typical Journo's Answer