This Crazy World We Live In

I recently visited Portugal and stayed in Lisbon, a gorgeous city of winding cobblestone streets, the Tagus River, and a rich history. I fell in love with the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum and the MAC/CCB Museu de Arte Contemporânea; with raw oysters and Aperol Spritz enjoyed against the backdrop of Castelo de São Jorge; and with carabineiros at Cervejaria Ramiro, featured in Season 8, Episode 4 of No Reservations.

Lisbon, Portugal

It was a fabulous trip, including a day trip by train to Porto, despite the city being unbearably crowded with tourists. A wine tasting at Taylor’s Port Winery, enjoyed in their beautiful garden, was a welcome reprieve after the jam-packed Livraria Lello, often considered one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world. It truly is stunning—but only if you can tolerate an obscene number of tourists.

And yet, amid all that beauty, I was reminded of how crazy the world we live in truly is.

I can’t recall the exact date, but one evening I was unwinding in my hotel room at the Moxy Lisbon City. I had grabbed a glass of Super Bock from the hotel bar on my way upstairs and turned on CNN while planning the next day. I was just chilling—until he appeared. Former President Donald Trump was speaking to reporters about his hush-money case, shortly after Michael Cohen had testified against him.

At first, I thought I must be drunk. He wasn’t making sense. It sounded like pure gibberish. But as he continued, I realized it wasn’t merely incoherent—it was incoherent. He was simply saying whatever came to mind, without structure or restraint. And this man is the front-runner for November’s presidential election. Don’t tell me we don’t live in a crazy world when someone facing 88 felony charges is a prominent presidential candidate.

Before the trip, it didn’t feel quite so insane. A month earlier, I had written that I would not vote for President Biden, but I would cast my vote for him. The world didn’t feel quite as upside down then. It didn’t seem absurd that I would be voting not for the best candidate, but against the worst—to preserve some semblance of civility, humanity, and decency as a nation. It felt almost reasonable to accept that there was no “best” option, only the choice between someone dangerous and someone merely decent.

After a full day of roaming Lisbon, what once felt normal suddenly felt absurd.

And then there was Rafah.

With at least 45 people killed and more than 200 injured in a tent camp fire, outrage over Israel’s continued offensive in Gaza—particularly its disregard for civilians—erupted once again. Despite a ruling by the International Court of Justice, the United Nations’ highest court, ordering Israel to “immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,” the attacks continued. At this point, we must consider whether what is unfolding constitutes an attempted genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

War is not black and white, as I explored in Can There Be Such a Thing as Humanity in War? Israel was provoked—there is no denying that. Hamas is culpable for the deaths of Palestinians as well. But this has become more than retaliation. Words like famine and genocide are now used to describe the conditions in Gaza. Meanwhile, people on Instagram urge us to keep “all eyes on Rafah.” What does it mean to keep watching? What does it change?

I’m fairly confident Israel knows that all eyes are on Rafah. Famine and genocide may not be the stated intentions of the Israeli government, but they are happening. I don’t care for slogans. The international community must act beyond an AI-generated social media campaign. There should be concrete consequences—such as a complete halt to trade with Israel—as long as it continues to violate the ICJ’s ruling to stop its military offensive in Rafah. No nation claiming humanity should continue to call Israel an ally under these circumstances.

This is not about abandoning Jewish people or denying their right to Israel. Jewish people have the right to Israel and the right to live in peace without prejudice, like anyone else. I am not denying those rights. I am advocating for the protection of Palestinian civilians in Gaza—noncombatants who should be shielded from military action as much as possible. This is about ceasing the destruction of Palestinian lives, at least temporarily, so that aid can reach those in despair and civilians can be evacuated.

It feels almost obtuse to talk about the weather after Rafah, but the weather, too, has reached a level of absurdity. Los Angeles feels like late winter rather than summer. I woke up this morning and didn’t want to get out of bed because it felt cold outside the duvet. We’ve passed Memorial Day weekend, and it’s still too chilly to enjoy ice cream. Meanwhile, at least 23 people were killed over that same holiday weekend due to extreme weather events.

Yet some people still refuse to believe that climate change is driving deadly heatwaves, storms, and weather extremes—or that human activity, particularly the burning of fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal, is largely responsible. We are experiencing the consequences in real time, with fatal outcomes, and still resist changing our lives to protect the future of the planet.

I think about that future and, admittedly, I shrug. I don’t have children, and I won’t. While extreme weather has become more frequent and deadly, I don’t believe it will drastically impact my quality of life within my lifetime. But if you have children or grandchildren and haven’t made meaningful lifestyle changes beyond recycling, solar panels, or electric vehicles, you are being willfully obtuse. Imagine them living in a world where extreme weather isn’t an anomaly but a constant—relentless heatwaves and storms that kill regularly. What kind of future is that?

And yet, no matter how crazy the world becomes, life continues for most of us as though it isn’t. I’m back from Portugal, slowly settling into my life in Los Angeles. I see “All Eyes on Rafah” on Instagram Stories and wonder how long we plan to watch. I wonder what will happen to my vote in November if Israel continues its offensive in Gaza and President Biden refuses to impose economic sanctions—while former President Trump promises that he would.

Will I compromise everything for the Palestinians in Gaza?

I hope it doesn’t come to that. But we live in a crazy world.

_____

More essays:

I Will Not Vote for Biden—But I Will Cast My Vote for Him

Should Los Angeles Remain a Sanctuary City?

Barbie, Margot & Greta… Thank You, but No Thank You

Trump et Gay

And Just Like That, It Isn’t Easy Being Us

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