How many times have you heard some people talk of their solidarity with some distant group? A solidarity that they cannot act on because they really aren't in the distant group's circumstances.
The latest overuse I heard was in a speech in Pakistan by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. He expressed his sympathy for and solidarity with the victims of the flooding.
Excuse me, how can one have solidarity with people in a disaster area when one can easily fly in and then easily fly out again? Maybe he would be in solidarity with the victims if he waded through waist-deep water with supplies on his head.
Of course, we do need the people who can fly in and fly out so they can let the rest of us know how desperate the situation is, especially photographers.
The rest of us may not act in solidarity with the victims but we can be more than just sympathetic. We can donate to aid agencies who are trying to bring supplies to the victims. One agency to consider is the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Visit http://www.unhcr.org to learn some of the problems and to donate what you can.
