Don't disturb me

Last week, Mumbai was attacked once again, and it was as if nothing had happened. I have many friends on my Facebook list who live in Mumbai, and not a single one of them had anything to say about what had happened; instead, they chose to post about their mixed excitement and sadness over the last installment of the Harry Potter films.

It seems to boil down to the fact that no one wants to be troubled. Last year, I was sitting in Williams café at Pier 8 when Hamilton, and much of Ontario, was hit with an earthquake. The light fixtures were swaying from side to side, the tables were shaking, and no one appeared to be particularly disturbed by this. After the first few seconds, someone sitting behind me said, “What’s that?” I turned and replied, “It feels like an earthquake.” She replied, “You shouldn’t say things like that!”

Huh?

War has been ongoing in Libya, and yet, the newscasters want to report about what the Duchess of Cambridge is wearing.

Has the human race become so fragile that we can’t handle any unpleasant realities? Is the truth slipping away from us, enabling us to curl up in a convenient fantasy world where the biggest problem is that there won’t be any more Harry Potter films?

There has been immense outrage over the verdict in the Casey Anthony trial. The masses have been reacting as though they know what really happened and justice failed. I wonder, would this same concern and outrage be present if the same people were to walk by a person being mugged on the sidewalk, or if they overheard their neighbour being physically abused? I suspect in those cases—real cases where they know what is happening and could have an impact—they wouldn’t want to interfere.

The less we care and want to know about what’s happening in the real world around us, the more room it will leave for atrocities to occur.