By Zoe Hyde
Can we not hypernormalise what is going on right now?
Equipped with my keyboard, I am armed, as the saying goes, “the pen is mightier than the sword”. There is weight and capability in our words. I am of course not crediting myself to have such noble impact on the masses with this essay, but if people like Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, Malala Yousafzai, and Greta Thunberg, can teach us anything, it’s that our words can make an impact. With these words, we can begin meaningful action.
I would say that I am a rather optimistic person. I choose to believe that things in life happen for a reason. Even the adversity we face will surely, hopefully, one day have a silver lining. Honestly, I choose to think like this for my own personal reasons, to forge meaning through my own struggles and what happened to me as a child. I also enjoy moving through the world with a hopeful lens. Right now, such optimism would instead be naive and ignorant. I will not shock you when I write about the turmoil that the Trump 2025 Administration is bringing not only on the US, but upon the entire planet. Nationally in the US, this can be witnessed with the recent No Kings protest, or the headlines you may flick past which reveal Trump has just retracted the US from yet another climate change initiative. Ahh…
I am no stranger to the fact that the conflict between Gaza and Israel is complex and extends to periods long before the media coverage it has gained. However, the genocide; the international war crimes; bombings of hospitals; defenceless children; preventing the access of food and clean water — vital products for basic human survival — is too much. To be clear, Zero amount of war should be tolerated and, accepted as a way of humanity What we are witnessing right now… this is a whole additional level of injustice and evil. The images that we are seeing of literal dying children has often worked their way into people’s social media algorithm, of course accompanied with a cat video shortly afterwards, you know, to soften the blow. This is not normal. This is NOT right. I know it can be overwhelming to address and acknowledge what is happening right now, we may even just want to pretend it isn’t happening as a form of coping, and while it is important to preserve our own mental health in order to actually show up and be there for people in the world, we also cannot hypernormalise what is taking place right now.
Suzanne Collins wrote about a dystopian societyin her series, The Hunger Games (2008). Essentially (spoilers ahead, sorry! But also if you haven’t seen it, it was released over a decade ago so I can’t be held accountable!) the series takes place in Panem, a nation built on the ruins of what was once North America, divided into the wealthy Capitol and twelve poorer districts, with civilians living each day with fear, defeat, and submission. Every year, the Capitol hosts ‘The Hunger Games’, where two tributes from each district, aged 12-18, are selected by lottery to fight to the death in a dangerous arena, with The Capitol to observe, of course, for entertainment. The Capitol uses these games as a form of population control, instilling fear and preventing future uprisings of the Districts, with themes of social inequality, survival, the impact of violence, the nature of power, and the dangers of unchecked authority all weaved throughout the story.
I don’t thinkthat this sounds too fictional right now. But please correct me if I’m wrong. For context, while the Met Gala took place in New York City this year, with the theme “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”, on the exact same date, May 5th:
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that plans to expand Israel’s war against Gaza will be “intensive” and could include an indefinite army presence and forced displacement of 2.3 million Palestinians.
- After a missile strike on its main airport, Israel launched a series of air attacks on Yemen with dozens of fighter jets, claiming its forces hit infrastructure used by Houthi rebels.
- At least 54 people were killed by Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip since dawn, medical sources told Al Jazeera.
- Hamas and Hezbollah condemned Israel’s attack on Yemen as a “war crime”, saying the assault won’t change the Houthis’ support for besieged Palestinians.
The impact that we have may feel minute, pointless, in vain, but if history has taught us anything, and more recently, with ‘The Ship to Gaza’, speaking against this terror, playing the part that we can, it can all make a difference. Sometimes, people my own age have commented about performative activism; people doing or speaking up about good things, only to raise their own social merit or look like a ‘good person’. Firstly, we can never assume people’s intentions behind their actions, people carry so much that we are not privy to. And next, even if it performative and not genuine in intent, at least it’s bringing headlines to an issue at hand, an issue that should be getting attention and provoking conversation, in the first place, which, isn’t that the point?! A hunger strike, protest, fashion choice…it’s all a political statement, to provoke an emotional response in society, encourage people to strike up conversations in their communities, change minds, bring about impactful change. As Greta Thunberg and her fellow brave humanitarian crew recently said, they are getting headlines, hence redirecting the attention, to a topic that should have gotten more headlines to begin with (Israel’s blockage of food and vital supplies to innocent civilians) hence this is the point of activism.
Now, while I may now be a certified Greta Thunberg STAN, I’m not saying we all should, or even really have the ability or resources to sail on a humanitarian vessel (although that might be helpful if it could collectively be coordinated) Alas, I just want to process how I’m feeling and try and bring back some of my own hope and courage, and it would be a rather nice thing to help cause that response in others, in a time of so much darkness. We cannot hypernormalise what is happening in the middle east, in all the conflicts around the world right now, we cannot just sit back and be complicit. While there is so much suffering in Gaza right now, there are actually over 56 ongoing armed conflicts in the world. Take Sudan for instance. Myanmar. Ukraine. The Democratic Republic of the Congo. This number has been steadily increasing. While that last sentence feels laced with helplessness, hope and advocating for what is right, peace, for a better world, it’s what we can’t lose sight of in the face of this alarming statistic. Especially when there are such frightening figures such as Trump and Vance and Putin and more locally with Dutton and Hanson, with seats at the table. Political analyst and journalist Amy Remeikis wrote about the hypernormalisation that’s occuring at the moment so eloquently and in such a digestible way on her Pyjama Politics blog on Substack. I highly encourage that you read it.
You may feel your impact is small, I definitely do at times,but collectively, and even on a local, individual level, we all have an impact on the world around us. That is not me trying to be inspiring, that is simple physics. Dark can’t exist where there is light. Not forever.
Not all actions have the be grand and news headline worthy. Attend local rallies. Write to your MP. Donate what you can, $5 will do something. Try to boycott complicit companies/businesses if you are able. Have a simple conversation and talk about what is happening. Vote in elections (for Australians, this is thankfully mandatory). Detest what is happening right now. When you doom scroll and see the memes of ‘Gen Z goes to the WWIII’ while it may be a funny, lighthearted attempt at a distraction or minimalisation of the terror, please still think about the why behind the reel.
We each make an impact on the world around us. Every day. And it is up to us to choose the impact that we make. Don’t hypernormalise what is happening. Be upset, be angry, advocate for justice. After all, in response to Trump calling Greta Thunberg a “strange” and “angry” person, Thunberg responded, “I think the world needs many more young angry women, to be honest. Especially with everything going on right now. That’s the thing we need the most of.”
