Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Criminality of an Apathetic Society

So, I am told by a guy that I know that he was recently robbed at gunpoint in front of his home. Now, the details are not relevant here as the point of this article has more to do with people who were neither the victims nor the perpetrators of this crime. Suffice it to say, the victim of this robbery was emotionally shaken, dismayed at society and angry that someone who he did not know and who did not know him felt it his “right” to disenfranchise him of his peace and his property when he had done nothing more than walk outside of his house.

From where does such temerity flow that would allow a “human being” – and I use that term in its most basic, biological and anatomical sense – to terrorize another for the sake of material gain? How deeply does the sewage of such malevolence and debauchery penetrate our society and our world?

History and every day life are replete with examples of how meaningless to some people a human life is as compared to a dollar bill – or even less. To perpetrate a horrible act that might deprive a child of a parent or a parent of a child or a husband of a wife or a friend of a friend is nonexistence on the list of things that are important to a criminal. His (or her) heart is devoid of light and in many cases, irretrievably resistant to redemption. As hope in general exists as a visible sliver of positive possibility, for a hardened and violent criminal, hope of repentance is like many of the materials in particle physics – they exist in theory but are not likely to be observed in reality. But as horrible a picture as I have painted of the criminal -- the punk -- the scumbag of the earth, there is another who represents a condition and a mindset that is much worse than the robber, the killer and the thief! The apathetic observer . . .

The victim discussed at the beginning of this article was, blessedly, unharmed by his tormentors. And as a good citizen, he felt it necessary to alert his neighbors to his experience in order to bring to bear a greater sense of caution in the usually quiet neighborhood. It was in doing so that he discovered that one of his neighbors not only knew about the robbery, but had actually witnessed it! Further inquisition revealed that this neighbor did nothing as he observed the crime. He did not call the police. He did not alert other neighbors. He did not yell “stop, criminal!” He did nothing!

Now, I’m just a guy thinking, but when in the heck did our society become so DEAD to the plight of others? When did it become “ok” to ignore or feel that it is “not my business” to get involved when we see a woman getting beaten in the streets by her husband or boyfriend? Or not call the police when we see a robbery or a break-in in our neighborhood? Or not inquire when something “just doesn’t seem right”? A criminal’s two most valuable tools are surprise and apathy. The first he uses to initiate the crime. The latter he uses to complete it.

The first tool is a formidable one; a criminal stakes out his intended target and waits until other elements are in place before he stealthily attacks. The second tool, however, is the one that he is becoming increasingly comfortable depending upon. He knows that fear, selfishness and the lack of brotherly accountability will bode well for his being able to carry out his evil deed -- and even escape! As a result, he relies less on his first tool. He no longer cares who sees him because apathy is the only tool that he needs to wreak havoc on society. Utter indifference and lack of action on the part of others has led to billions of dollars of property being stolen or destroyed and more importantly it has contributed to the infliction of injuries and to deaths of human beings. Sadly, there does not seem to be a movement to turn this trend around. So, I invoke hope for a change in the tides. And I don’t mean a theoretical particles-kind-of-hope. I mean a visible, foreseeable, possible hope – one drawn from a history of protecting each other – from a history and a time in our society when we were our brothers’ keepers. I hope for – and you "Bewitched" fans out there will understand this – a “Gladys Kravitz” in every home in America!

2 comments:

  1. Unfortunately, this individual did not take action when faced with a possible lifethreatening decision on the part of his neighbor, but for every lethargic, non-involved person, there exists concerned citizens who will get involved and speak up. Although "Gladys" does seem to have the scoop on things going on in the neighborhood, she and others like her can be an invaluable resource to the safety and protection of all around. I agree JustaGuy, that "Gladys" is needed and wanted in our neighborhoods. We can't do this alone.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, Louis! Worth the wait!

    Now on to my comment (which I just know you were waiting for with baited breath!):

    This is probably an odd point of view, but I belive that a large part of the problem is our cultural shift away from accepting risk and somewhat in our aversion to "beneficial violence." Odd, eh?

    We give lip service to the idea of "standing up for yourself" to children and no heroic reward for confronting danger posed to others. In fact, a child who comes to the physical aid of another child in a school yard fight would be punished, just as would the agressor AND the victim. We so promote this idea that I think we've come to accept it as "the right thing to do" when in my opinion it is instead creating cowards.

    To oversimplify, I don't think it's apathy on the part of the neighbor, in fact I'm reasonably confident that unless he was a true sociopath he "cared" about the assault, but he chose not to intervene either out of cowardice that he was ashamed of or "rationality" that he wasn't.

    I also think it's interesting that this is posted on Veteran's Day. I would love to see us as a culture do more to encourage the warrior within all of our citizens - one that knows when and how to fight, under what circumstances, with reasonable skill, and most of all, a willingness to see that under certian circumstances physically confronting wrong doing is the right thing to do.

    Just to be clear, I'm not saying that Americans should walk around with a chip on their shoulder spoiling for a fight, but can't we at least get over the attitude that no one should ever be expected to do the right thing if the right thing involves personal risk?

    Oh, and don't take another month to get the next post out. I'll be watching!

    Stasha

    ReplyDelete