"apathy" is a term which comes from the Greek word "apathes," which means, "without feeling." Thus someone experiencing apathy towards a particular subject, in short, just doesn't care about that subject.
Apathy, or indifference, if you wish, has given rise to every evil in the world, regardless of how great or small. Let's look at some prime examples of apathy at work…
Apathy leads people to ignore the cries for help from Ms. Kitty Genovese as she is brutally murdered on a busy city street in 1964.
Apathy leads people to not care that the clothes on their back came from a sweat shop in Indonesia, or that the shoes on their feet were assembled by a 12 year old in Cambodia.
Apathy leads people to not care that the rich and the wealthy have utterly destroyed this country's industrial base, and turned us into a country of fat, lazy, selfish, and in all other words, ignorant consumers.
Apathy leads people to watch movies like "Food Inc," and see the disgraceful state of food production in this country, and then go out for McDonald's for dinner after the show.
Apathy leads people to ignore the fact that there are serious problems in the world such as rampant hunger and starvation, overpopulation, pollution, crime, war, disease, etc.
Apathy has given rise to the greatest failures of our time. The failure to do anything about climate change, which by the way, it is now too late to do anything substantiative. The failure to pass real, meaningful healthcare reform, like the kind much of Europe has had for over half a century already. The failure to understand the real, measurable damage being done by having a continued presence in the middle east, and around the globe as a world military superpower. The failure to accept blame as a nation for many of the present wrongs in the world.
A woman was murdered in front of dozens of witnesses on the streets of a busy city, and no one cared enough to intervene, but marching off to invade a country that has done nothing to our own is justified, because we THINK that they might have been planning SOMETHING to do with weapons of mass destruction.
A planet is crumbling in ruins with rampant disease, starvation, and overpopulation, and apparently, the only thing actually worth being worked up over is a poor 16 year old girl who wants an abortion because she was raped, or a husband who wants to turn off life support for his wife, who is in a vegetative state.
A widow is unable to pay her medical bills in what is supposed to be the "best country in the world," and peoples' views on the subject are, "Healthcare is not a right," and "I got mine, Jack! Fuck off and get your own!"
A hardworking family is being evicted from their house, because they unwittingly bought their house at the height of the housing bubble, and their politician's view of the issue is "people should be held responsible for their mistakes."
A rich man who earns a million dollars a year complains that his taxes might be raised to Clinton-Era levels, and doesn't bother to think to himself, "I'm making a million dollars a year. Some people will never make that in their lifetime." He uses his influence to persuade politicians to give him a tax break, and average Joes who work beneath him don't care. "He deserved his money" they shrug.
A president sits in his office, offering incentives (bribes) to businesses to hire more people, rather than forcing businesses to do so, and to tell those at the top of the corporate ladder to tighten their belts and do it for the good of the nation, and no one seems to care that he hasn't done this small, basic step, but rather, accuse him of doing TOO much.
An earthquake strikes a poor country, rendering it even poorer, and more desperate than before, and the most charitable thing people can think to do in this country is send over some solar powered bibles.
A massacre takes place on a daily basis in Darfur in Sudan, or in the Congo, and no one here in America seems to hear about it, much less care about it, or want to do anything about it. No, it's more important that our "brave men and women" are preoccupied in the Middle East, ensuring that our country has access to more planet-polluting oil. I mean- fighting for freedom. Yeah, that's it… freedom. The freedom to be just as fat, lazy, dumb and ignorant as we are. God knows those poor brown people in Johnny-Ay-Rab-Land need a KFC a.s.a.p.
An oil platform explodes and sinks, releasing millions of gallons of oil into an already polluted sea, and as the oil continues to gush out day after day, week after week, people care less and less, and change the channel to see how the Mets are doing this season.
Why? Because it didn't happen to them. This country would be outraged if a spill that size were to occur on land, but because it happened in Poseidon's realm and not ours, it's no biggie. Because YOU weren't the one being brutally murdered on the street, it's no big deal to see it happen to someone else. Because YOU have healthcare and haven't had any accidents so far, it's okay to not care that other people don't have healthcare, or even if you do care, you don't care very much. Because YOU aren't rich, and are dumb enough to think that you WILL be rich one day, it's okay to let rich people have everything they want. Because YOU aren't witnessing massive slaughter in your streets on a daily basis, it's okay to know that that sort of thing is happening far, far away, and you're in the comfort of your own McMansion subdivision in suburbia.
That's all apathy really is, when you get to the underlying point. Apathy towards a topic is the result of "well, it hasn't happened to me, so it doesn't matter."
A 23 year old college graduate sits on his computer, typing a reflection on apathy because he doesn't have a job, because a rich man somewhere decided that it was more important to cut budgets for social and recreational services, than raise taxes on his fellow rich men, and ensure that everyone gets a chance to work, and make a bit of money in life.
A 23 year old college graduate works as a substitute teacher once a week, and sees students in high school who know absolutely nothing about the world around them, and prefer to wallow in delusion and mindless optimism than express any real concern. That, and of course, real life is just so boring and uninteresting that why should anyone bother to learn about real, pressing issues? Smoking and watching a music video is far more important.
A 23 year old college graduate sits with his wife and the two of them ponder how people could possibly be so uncaring about their fellow man. About how people could possibly watch the world that <enables the continuation of their life -- become > raped of its resources, polluted to no end, and still expected to continue supporting us indefinitely. About how people could possibly be so… apathetic.
To quote a rather uninteresting movie starring Christian Bale, "People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy."
The only problem with that is that we HAVE dramatic examples that SHOULD shake us out of apathy, but they don't. < If you aren't outraged, you aren't paying attention >
So my question to you, the reader is this….
What is it going to take to get you involved in the game?
Another building blowing up?
Another oil spill?
Another school shooting?
An asteroid hitting the earth?
A virulent strain of disease that wipes out half the world's population?
What random, one-up scenario is going to be so over-the-top that it will get your attention and get you to march down the streets and demand, not just ask for, but really truly DEMAND (i.e. not go home until it's accomplished) real change in your government, in your economy, in the structure of your society, and in the world as a whole?
What is it going to take?
P.S: Holding up a picket sign doesn't seem to accomplish anything.
Red Leicester
