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Indifference Indifference is a concept that I'd thought about for a long time now. I think that I first saw the idea given shape and form when I watched "The Boondock Saints" for the first time a number of years back now. The movie itself it about two brothers who feel that they've been charged with a crusade of sorts. They awake from a dream (the movie implies that it was a mission charged to them by God), and begin the process of going out and dealing with the evil that the law of man refuses to touch. They kill mobsters that everyone KNOWS is evil but does nothing about and they take out crime lords that have enough money and influence to avoid being convicted of the things that everyone KNOWS that they've been a part of. There is a priest right at the beginning of the movie who preaches about a woman who was knifed to death in broad daylight in a public area, crying out for help time and time again and though many saw the event, none lifted a finger to help her. He ends with the words "Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men." The recently remade Batman movie also strongly touches upon this theme wherein Bruce returns to Gotham to cleanse it of it's corruption, to show that the city does not belong to the corrupt and to act as a champion for the few good people still left in it. Indifference is insidious, like a disease that rots away at the core of the optimistically inherent goodness of mankind. Take for example, the online game I play and certain events within it that made me feel like writing this. There have been many occasions when I've been involved in battles between my guild and another. Many times, there are a couple members of an allied guild sitting around just watching. I'm a member of an allied guild, they're part of that allied guild...and while I'm being attacked and am fighting, they simply sit there and watch. I used to ask a few of them after the battle was over why they just sat there and didn't help me fight and the answer I invariably received is "I didn't want to get my guild involved." Vaguely understandable I guess...but in my eyes, just by BEING allied, doesn't that already involve them? I know that if I saw a member of an allied guild being attacked, I'd jump in swinging. Same for friends and in many cases, the friends of friends. Allies...the very meaning of the word implies that things should be shared, the good and the bad alike. In almost all cases, the enemy of my friend becomes my enemy as well. Another example, I was leveling in team earlier and saw a melee guy just jump in and kill one of my teammates in one hit. Immediately, I went after him and chased him until he teleported away. He was of a higher level than me and obviously had a lot better quality of equipment than I had but I went after him anyway. My other teammates just ignored the whole issue...then ignored it again when it happened a second time while once again, I gave chase. Once again, he vanished, and returning, I asked my teammates why they didn't help our fallen teammate and got the invariable response, "I didn't want to get my guild involved." The second teammate said some garbage about how his equipment wasn't good enough to take on the pker (player killer) but that was pure bullshit as while his gear was shitty, he also had a GoldGuard and could have killed the guy easily. About half an hour later on, I was the one being attacked and it wasn't a one-hit kill but a prolonged chase and through it all, other than occasionally healing me (and I DO mean occasionally), they just did nothing. It's about justice. It's about fighting for what you believe in even if it IS only a game. The people that play and hear me about my occasional rants about it just dont understand it...they ask me why I'm getting so worked up over just some game. My answer to them is always this: While yes, it may be just a stupid and inconsequential game, there is a very real person behind every single character and behind every action is a process of thought and a way of thinking. It's about justice. It's about not letting those in the wrong get away with their actions without even a show of protest. It applies to everything in life. If you saw someone getting beaten up and just walked away, saying that it wasn't your business, how could you sleep at night? If you believe yourself to be inherently good and just walk away from something like that, how can you look at yourself in a mirror afterward? If you're a match for them physically, get the fuck IN there and help. If the guy doing the beating is like 6'5, 250 pounds with muscles everywhere get on a phone and call the cops. In just about any situation you could name, no matter how strong or how weak you are, there is ALWAYS something you can do to help, to protest against the injustice. It always seems to be the consequences and repercussions that seem to worry people. What will happen to THEm because of their involvement, how it affects them in the future. In a perfect society...if you help someone out when they're getting hassled, there will be someone around to help YOU out when the repercussions of your original helping action hits home. Is there a way to motivate people? To shake them from their shells of indifference and to get everyone actually helping each other instead of just passing them by, telling themselves that it has nothing to do with them? It's also about empathy, about puttingyourself in THEIR shoes. in my case, I guess it's sort of about self interest...knowing that if I help them, maybe somewhere down the line, they'll help me. But mainly, I just think, if that were me being attacked, I would want people to come to my aid. Of course, don't take this as me saying that I'm completely free of what I'm condemning. I mean, I just step around homeless people downtown and try not to meet their eyes when I'm there...and that's a prime example of what I was just talking about. While I may not have much, I definitely have more than they do. Some things...you can't help it due to the fact that the pattern of behaviour is so intrinisic to who you are. First, like many people, I need to find the desire to change...and work my way up from there. In ending, a quote from Batman Begins...I believe the words they say...as it IS all about the will to act and the refusal to just take the world lying down. Henri Ducard: Your parents' death was not your fault. [Bruce attacks Ducard with his sword] Henri Ducard: It was your father's. [Bruce furiously attacks Ducard, but is easily defeated] Henri Ducard: Anger does not change the fact that your father failed to act. Bruce Wayne: That man had a gun! Henri Ducard: Would that have stopped you? Bruce Wayne: I've had training! Henri Ducard: The training is nothing! The will is everything! [Ducard bests Bruce once again] Henri Ducard: The will to act. |