Note to self:
Probably don't read O magazine about the women your organization helps in Africa while on the metro. Crying on the train is so cliche.

Anyone out there who's curious about what I do, why I put up with the days that make me post stuff like I did last night, and the night before that, check out O magazine for the month of December (currently on the stands). Page 283. These are not stories that are easy to read, but this is why I do it. Knowing that in my own abstract way I am doing something to help these women.

I am faced with the question, how can this be the world I live in? Do men rape women when civil society degrades to a level that there is no reason for them not to? Would the men I know act in the same way if our society collapsed completely? Is this what anarchism really means? If it's not the collapse of the rule of law that allows such atrociety, what are other possible explanations? Is this the normal state of the cultures in which these women live, or is this caused by the illness that began three hundred years ago with European "exploration"?

I'm tired, and I don't know if I make sense right now. I would like to believe that there aren't cultures whose default position is to endorse violence (towards women or anyone else) but my knowledge of the Old Testament belies that belief.

I need to think on this more.