Secret River Conflict Impacts Greatest on the Most Vulnerable

When confronted with conflict it is the vulnerable who suffer the greatest as the powerful are indifferent to them. Vulnerability, encountering conflict and how people respond to conflict are unavoidable experiences worldwide. But ultimately vulnerability depends on the situation that a person is in. When it comes down to powerful verses the defenceless, it is the weak who are influenced the most by conflict as the powerful do not understand to what extent their actions effect others. Although the powerful trump others on their way to the top perhaps it is the assailable people who allow themselves to be manipulated. It is more prominent today that the vulnerable are greatly impacted at the hands of the powerful because of their differences, but what defines vulnerability in any given person relies on the position or state they are in. What can define a person as vulnerable are finical struggles, emotional struggles, physical struggles and racial struggles while also being defenceless, exposed and weak in nature. Considering this definition, vulnerability alters and differs for different people, whether they are blind, poor, depressed, discriminated against everyone is ‘vulnerable' in some form. It is almost always that a person becomes powerless due to their confrontation with conflict. Some of the most influential and powerful people can become weak and belittled at the hands of others or their own actions. It is the story of the rags to riches that we so often hear about but it can also be the case of riches to rags. Everyone has been deprived of their privileges or has been weak at some point in their life due to encountering a conflict. It is unavoidable; it is what defines us a person along with our resilience to keep fighting after being weak or defenceless. Most people do not have the courage to question the issue and their response to conflict is altered due to the lack of questioning. These weak people have the opportunity to be strong and stand up for what is morally right when an issue arises but instead succumbs to mob mentality and peer pressure forcing them to do things that are not of the norm, ultimately making them vulnerable. When in a new situation and new environment, people can become a weaker version of themselves. In the past it has been colonisation in Australia was what encouraged vulnerability. Some Australians thought that they had to â€Å"stick together† and by doing so attempting to control the Indigenous Australians and force them to assimilate into a dominant white culture. With this thought process of sticking together it forced some people to make decisions they wouldn’t normally make and became vulnerable and succumbed to what the majority was saying as they didn’t want to be viewed as siding with the Indigenous Australians. The situation a person is in impacts on their ability to stay strong and not become weak, once vulnerable conflict impacts greater. The problem with the powerful today is that they don't understand how their actions affect others. Majority of the powerful people worldwide started at the bottom of the food chain. Some worked hard for fortune and power; others had it handed to them. The problem with power is that it is easily abused and used for all the wrong reasons; to stay on top can sometimes become the top priority for the privileged. Staying at the top of the pyramid of society can significantly influence and impact the vulnerable as social status can be shifted immensely. On the way to the top the advantaged push others down so they can reach what they believe to be success and supremacy. The fragile are almost always targeted as it is easy to overcome and trump them giving the powerful an effortless route to total control of power. Due to the differences between the privileged ad underprivileged the powerful don’t understand what their actions can truly do. They don’t comprehend how little these people already have, because they may have never experienced a life unlike their own. During colonisation the British governor allowed British settlers to hurt and even kill the Aboriginals all because they were different. â€Å"On occasion of any native coming armed, or in a hostile manner without arms to any farm belonging to British subjects, such natives are first to be desired in a civil manner to depart from the said farm. † The indifferences between the two conflicting cultures made the powerful discriminate against what they believed to be a subhuman and inferior race and not really understand what is meant to the Aboriginals. The Aboriginals had the land first it was apart of their culture, their way of life and when it was taken away they had no other way to respond other then trying to claim back what was rightfully theirs. The government truly did not realise how they were affecting the Indigenous communities at the time. They take away what little the vulnerable have without even realising the consequences that has for the less advantaged. With a society obsessive over money and wealth there is no questioning when it comes to money versus human beings and raw emotions; money conquers all. The real question is why don’t people care about one another? The only way to fix and help the vulnerable from being constantly dragged down is to help the hedonistic society we live in. Power, wealth and what people believe to be success have become the top priority of those who are too selfish and too inconsiderate. These money infatuated people need to start taking into consideration others and stop pushing them down for their own desires. They need to realise that everyone is equal, everyone deserves the same and that they have to live with these people for the rest of their life. Sure, they can avoid the weak they have hurt but a life of harmony would be much greater then one of avoidance. The powerful that are ravenous and greedy need to stop and consider what how their actions are effecting the weak so that the targeted victims have a chance to grow and to prosper. Although the vulnerable are constantly victimised by those craving power perhaps they allow themselves to be manipulated. Sure, we all feel sorry for the less privileged but how can we when they allow themselves to be stepped all over? Yes, some of the disadvantaged are genuinely stuck in a lower social class with no hope of thriving but there are so many that take any opportunity they can in the hopes of moving up in the world. These choices are thoughtless choices. When an authoritative and influential figure approaches the weak and asks them for help there is no doubting that they would say yes. They powerful have the vulnerable in the palm of their hands and the underprivileged let them. Why, why would you let someone walk all over you when you know that they are just using you for something greater? I personally believe it is so that the vulnerable can be viewed as incapable and desperate drawing the powerful to them in the hopes of leeching something off them. What they don’t understand is that the rich and the privileged have a lot more resources for victory and it is a pointless attempt to try and receive anything from them. They want to stay at the bottom so that others feel sorry for them, so that they don’t have to work, so they can get by on the scrapings that we give them. They idolise the advantaged and in doing so they are blinded by their own obsession allowing them to be susceptible to manipulating and scheming. It is also the case of mob mentality when someone gives into peer pressure making them extremely pathetic and will do anything they are told because they don’t have the courage to question what is right, subjecting them to manipulation. In terms of past events in history, again British colonisation forced many people to succumb to peer pressure, with the added pressure and the desire for power it forced many settlers to do things they wouldn’t normally do. â€Å"It was not the voice of any one man but the voice of the group, faceless and powerful. † The underprivileged remain underprivileged due to the fact that they permit the privileged manoeuvre them in hopes of leeching something off them or in hopes that they may to become powerful. Ultimately the vulnerable endure greater suffering as they allow themselves to be manipulated and crushed in the hopes of something new, something better. What it means to be vulnerable can differ from situation to situation and only when confronted with a issue can they really know whether they are ‘vulnerable’ or not. To make this world a better place, a place of equality the powerful need to stop treating the disadvantaged purely based on indifferences. Nobody likes racism so there is no reason to discriminate against the poor or fragile just for being who they are.