Ivan Byrdsong
Why should I care? Why does this matter? How does this affect me? These are the most common questions received in response to a discussion regarding the state of our world.
First, let us note and define the word “apathy.” Apathy is the absence of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about matters, issues, or events that do not directly affect an individual. It is the “I don’t care” attitude that many people hold, not out of malicious intent, but because they are simply uneducated about a given issue. To illustrate, take the incessant international military interventions by the United States or the Israeli occupation of Palestine as examples. Most people do not like talking about these topics and avoid conversation about them because they simply do not have any information about what is going on. They have not actively made the decision to investigate, research, and dig for information about these events to form an opinion on them. Most people rely on news channels and other forms of mainstream media to be told what to believe, and they have more immediate events happening in their lives that these issues seem irrelevant in comparison.
Why should I care about refugees in Syria when I need to focus on paying my bills for this month? Why do I need to know about the test weapons used in the Gaza Strip when my children are sick at home? Why should I spend my time focusing on the Middle East when my favorite celebrity show is about to start a new season?
Most people are stuck in the “just surviving” mentality. They cannot be bothered by things happening far away because they are too busy trying to survive at home. Instead of living life, testing their boundaries, daring to venture where others have not, and forging their own paths, they are stuck constantly reacting to life. For the vast majority, they have merely settled for a comfortable, decent life due to events and circumstances unique to each person. The hamster wheel: always running but never going anywhere.
So how do you make these global, seemingly disconnected, events more important and immediate in people’s lives? How do you show that these events DO affect their lives?
The key to this reorganization of priority is sensationalism. This is one of the primary strategies used by the mainstream news conglomerates. One must show visceral bits of information to provoke an emotional response from the audience. Unfortunately, people are not interested in hard, rigid documentation, rigorously investigated evidence, or systematic processes of analysis. It is sad to say, but the main thing people will respond to in this stage of the information war are dead babies, explosions, rape, and beheadings. People have become so desensitized by movies, television, news stations, and other media outlets that their sense of empathy has been diminished and has evolved into apathy. So in order to penetrate the mind of fortified apathy, one must appeal to their level of understanding and emotions.
Ultimately, every individual has the choice to decide whether they wish to know what is happening in this world or not. They have been given the gift of free will. But how do you convey to an individual that their free will has been exploited and capitalized by those in power and by those who have spent billions (if not trillions) of dollars studying and learning human psychology to better control the masses?
How do you tell someone that most things in their lives that they hold as valuable are not a priority?
How do you tell someone that MTV, The Kardashians, E! Celebrity news, sports, and television shows are ALL intentional distractions from real atrocities, real wars, real babies dying, real women getting raped, and real families being destroyed?
Without having millions of dollars to spend on resources to hold their attentions for more than a few seconds, this effort of trying to make reality real to people seems futile. The masses prefer the blissful ignorance of their comfort cages rather than the harsh reality that we live in an extremely broken, twisted, and sick society.
No one wants to face the truth because that would be new uncharted territory. That would be uncomfortable. That would be upsetting. That would require them to think. And that would shatter their existing worldview. All that can be said for those who refuse to wake up is, there will come a time when all these conflicts and problems happening on the other side of the world will be brought to your doorstep and dropped like a sack of bricks into your lap.
What happens when society blindsides and threatens your way of life and you have no one to turn to for help? What happens when the world turns its back on you in apathy the way you did to all those other people in the world?
What will you do then?
But that does not need to happen. That situation can be avoided. All it takes is a little effort and an open mind. You can slowly start training yourself to shed off layers of your apathy by pursuing information on topics you find interesting. If you are interested in Palestine, government corruption, health, or anything for that matter, then spend thirty minutes a day reading, watching videos, following investigative journalists, and focusing on events that are happening on the ground. Do NOT settle for a seven-minute, bias news clip. Take some initiative, and find the information for yourself. No one can tell you truth, nor should you expect or want someone else to do so. Truth is something that can only be found on your own, by your own investigation, by your own effort and pursuit of knowledge.
Rest assured that there are people in this world that are banking on your ignorance. There are people taking advantage of your voice AND your lack of voice. There are people that will mislead you, misguide you, manipulate you and deceive you for their own private interests. These people exist and these people are in positions of power. Do not let them cage you in apathy and castrate your empathy. You are not a mere tool or a means to an end. You are an infinite human being, but until you begin to understand what is happening to other humans on this planet, you will continue to be exploited.
We may have found a cure for most evils; but we have found no remedy for the worst of them all, the apathy of human beings.
-Helen Keller
Supermarket tabloids and celebrity gossip shows are not just innocently shallow entertainment, but a fundamental part of a much larger movement that involves apathy, greed and hierarchy.
-Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Apathy in general; people who are not standing up for what they believe in because somebody’s got a louder mouth than them; it doesn’t make any sense.
-Avan Jogia
Is it ignorance or apathy? Hey, I don’t know and I don’t care.
-Jimmy Buffett
Slums may well be breeding grounds of crime, but middle class suburbs are incubators of apathy and delirium.
-Cyril Connolly
“It’s a disease. Nobody thinks or feels or cares any more; nobody gets excited or believes in anything except their own comfortable little God damn mediocrity.”
― Richard Yates
“All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to ratify decisions and to consume.”
― Noam Chomsky
The Power Within 