Going to the trouble

The people we call first responders are those people who run towards the trouble.

In the theoretical world, we would just call those responders . Those Who respond to the trouble are those who move towards the trouble and then, as Donna Haraway called her most recent book, stays with the trouble.

There is a somewhat recent approach in the humanities by which one could be said to stay with the trouble. Learning takes place when you are put in a place of discomfort. You know that you are really learning something when you are uncomfortable.

So it is that I submit that those of us who naturally turn towards the trouble are those who are truly trying to learn.

Because most people just want to live a comfortable happy life.

I’m not really sure where that gets us though, that is, if most people are simply turning away and trying to be comfortable.