to refer to anything or anyone originating in Africa? Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction. humans are treated as humans. Love this Phil!! . Not to say Ive never had my indifferent moments because I have. So he is very much present to me and to us. "Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. A grown man, crying out for his mother.. Does it mean that society has changed? They told jurors Chauvin showed indifference to Floyds pleas for help. The devotion and care that you and your wife give to your son is beyond admirable. Many people cant muster the strength to watch the entire Floyd video. This time, we do respond. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person's pain and despair. One does something special for the sake of humanity because one is angry at the injustice that one witnesses. Why is indifference tempting and seductive? One writes a great poem, a great symphony. Am I wrong to have expectation? You fight it. Does it mean that we have learned from the past? Speakola is a labour of love and Id be very grateful if you would share, tweet or like it. But indifference is never creative. ABSTRACT. When the ship of Jewish refugees arrived in Cuba and was turned away, the captain turned to the United States for help. They're unbelievably difficult to look at, and the part of your brain designed to protect you from unpleasant things probably has you wondering if the pictures could really be real. Indifference reduces the Other to an abstraction. Indifference, then, is not only a sin, it is a punishment.\Elie Wiesel, 1999. That was as chilling as his knee on Floyds neck. humans lack emotion. I just wouldn't give him/her any attention at all. Required fields are marked *. (64-65). Anger can at times be creative. You fight it. Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction." . Indifference has the power to make entire populations "less than," which is what happened to him and millions of others during the Holocaust. But FDR and his government didn't help, and while the passengers were eventually granted refuge in various countries in Europe, some 200 were murdered at the hands of the Nazis. Using anguish instead of pain makes the suffering more intense and adds a more intense tone to the whole passage as well. Jeff Zelevansky/Reuters/Corbis. No matter how much someone cares about something, if they are indifferent to it, then it is not important to them. Even in suffering? Let them know you care about them even if you can't show it in front of everyone. Imagine their collective sense of betrayal when they realized that world leaders had known what was going onand did nothing. And together we walk towards the new millennium, carried by profound fear and extraordinary hope. Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred. Our purchasing decisions will not in themselves change how corporations produce their products. And so, once again, I think of the young Jewish boy from the Carpathian Mountains. In a 1999 White House address raising the perils of indifference, Elie Wiesel offered these reflections: Of course, indifference can be tempting more than that, seductive. But the question remainswhy did so few people step up to try to help? Wiesel wants to be clear that, in some cases, people did learn from the Holocaust and World War II. Wiesel says this experience made him aware of the danger of being indifferent toward other people's suffering. Perhaps no other feature of White attitudes is as cumulatively responsible for the pain and privation experienced by our nations Black minority at this point in our history as is indifference, he wrote. Within this call to action, Wiesel argues that indifference is an action worse than any other. Georgetown University Law Center You can be indifferent to someone or something without actually hating them. (100, 104-106). Which answer should go in blank 27? Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction. Its like a cancer which attacks the soul. But I still wouldn't hate him/her. On the surface, the definition is pretty straightforward, but as you dive in and peel back some of the layers, it becomes easy to see how tempting it is to exist in between good and evilwhich, according to Wiesel, is where indifference lives. It's White indifference that allows so many Black and brown students to go to. Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. Expectations drive our lives. It is so much easier to look away from victims. The ultimate answer to indifference is at the societal, structural level. You disarm it. Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. He had almost been lost to history until his story was told again in 1986 by Lawrence Weschler in his book "A Miracle for Breakfast.". Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. White indifference is why slavery and Jim Crow lasted so long. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. And together we walk towards the new millennium, carried by a profound fear and extraordinary hope. Anger can at times be creative. She wants to share herstory with thosewho have experienced life altering events andwith the people and the communities who surround them. In the place that I come from, society was composed of three simple categories: the killers, the victims, and the bystanders. Never ask, \Can I get you something?\ Just get it. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. What will the legacy of this vanishing century be? Why were they so few? This site is using cookies under cookie policy . People often become indifferent to what matters most in life. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Has the human being become less indifferent and more human? Caring for others is difficult. Etymologically, the word means \no difference.\ A strange and unnatural state in which the lines blur between light and darkness, dusk and dawn, crime and punishment, cruelty and compassion, good and evil. The pastor that night discussed what it means to be a community, and what it means to love. Do we feel their pain, their agony? There are people in all of our lives to whom we should be offering more of our attention and compassion. Alicia Lartigue is a writer who loves to write about various topics. Eric A. Friedman His sunglasses are perched on his head and his hands rest in his pocket. Ralph Abernathy, left, and the Rev. According to Wiesel, the selflessness and heroism of the Righteous Gentiles is the kind of behavior the rest of the world needs to emulate going into the next century. We will not be hiding from suffering, but confronting it. In fact, after the Americans liberated Buchenwald in 1945, they forced locals to march through the camp to see what had happened there and what they'd ignored. Our emails and calls will make a difference only if our elected officials respond. Those non-Jews, those Christians, we call the "Righteous Gentiles," whose selfless act of heroism saved the honor of their faith. The store will not work correctly in the case when cookies are disabled. Indifference reduces the Other to an abstraction." Question 2 options: A) "Pain" is a stronger word. Can one possibly view indifference as a virtue? It doesn't relieve us of our duties or obligations, but it does make them harder to fulfill if we don't take care of ourselves first. Roosevelt was a good man, with a heart. A Study of Reality: Mans Finite Response to Gods Infinite Revelation. Allow a caretaker to go out to supper once every so often. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end. He has accompanied the old man I have become throughout these years of quest and struggle. There is social indifference, which means ignoring other people's needs and desires. But indifference is never creative. He believes that ignoring a person's misery makes it easier to look at that person as something less than human. Sharon\s new book,Ceramic to Clay,seeks toencouragepeople to understand trauma, to learn aboutauthentic healing, to empower people toembrace their journeys and to understand their calling at a deeper level. It becomes clear throughout his speech that Elie Wiesel sees the folks who stood idly by as being part of the problem. And so many of the young people fell in battle. Of course, apathy may be enticingeven attractive. They devote their lives to Adam\s maximum possible recovery and comfort in his body. You are very right about expectations fueling our lives and grief resulting when we dont get what we expected (especially if we did all the correct things). I don't understand. And even if he lives to be a very old man, he will always be grateful to them for that rage, and also for their compassion. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. But then, there were human beings who were sensitive to our tragedy. ), because they are criminals (and what combination of poor education, abuse, violent neighborhoods, economic hardships, contributed to their plight?). Indifference is not an appropriate answer. In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman. We are on the threshold of a new century, a new millennium. During the darkest of times, inside the ghettoes and death camps -- and I'm glad that Mrs. Clinton mentioned that we are now commemorating that event, that period, that we are now in the Days of Remembrance -- but then, we felt abandoned, forgotten. A Warner Bros. They were dead and did not know it. "Gratitude" is a word that I cherish. What are its courses and inescapable consequences? One day, when he refused to bow down to a Nazi dictator, he was arrested and imprisoned for three months. Violent acts of White racism grab the headlines. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. Indifference elicits no response. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Causes of indifference include: illness, injury, or disability (such as being in a coma or having no arms or legs) Mental illness such as depression or anxiety Disorders such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia Alcohol or drug addiction Lack of interest or enjoyment People show indifference to things that they do not care about. There is a peculiar pain to being ignored, to not even being seen. Why was there a greater effort to save SS murderers after the war than to save their victims during the war? Besides our own need to understand when this is given to us to handle, it is a challenge to communicate without anger its importance to those who dont have the actual experience. These failures have cast a dark shadow over humanity: two World Wars, countless civil wars, the senseless chain of assassinations (Gandhi, the Kennedys, Martin Luther King, Sadat, Rabin), bloodbaths in Cambodia and Algeria, India and Pakistan, Ireland and Rwanda, Eritrea and Ethiopia, Sarajevo and Kosovo; the inhumanity in the gulag and the tragedy of Hiroshima. special or interesting Roosevelt was a good man, with a heart. There was one moment, however, when Chauvins look of indifference broke. Indifference impairs one's perspective of others as well as one's own dignity. There are plenty of complicated proposals to reform policing: a federal ban on chokeholds and no-knock warrants, challenging authorities immunity from civil suits and stopping the militarization of local police. And even if he lives to be a very old man, he will always be grateful to them for that rage, and also for their compassion. So much violence; so much indifference. If you are indifferent to many things that normally would bother you or affect you emotionally, then you should see a doctor to find out why. But then, there were human beings who were sensitive to our tragedy. For us to be ignored by God was a harsher punishment than to be a victim of His anger. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. And, on a different level, of course, Auschwitz and Treblinka. Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. He doesnt seem to notice Floyd at all. How to raise sufficient resources and divvy up spending between health care, education, social safety net programs, equal access to justice.? It is also systematically underfunding health systems and foreign assistance such that there is no doubt there will be too few health workers, too few medicines, too few ambulances, too little accountability to significantly cut the toll of mothers dying and robustly respond to the innumerable other causes of death and disability. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. It was his way of witnessing the genocide that eliminated his family along with millions of other Jews. But there is one heart-wrenching image that stands above the rest. People who live in cultures where hardship is the norm likely have a lit to teach us. In a 1965 speech, Martin Luther King, Jr., called the greatest tragedy of this periodnot the vitriolic words and other violent actions of the bad people but the appalling silence and indifference of the good people.. Indifference is not a response." Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, Nobel Laureate, and author (most famously known for Night), gave this impassioned speech as part of the Millennium Lecture series, hosted by President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. But then Chauvin came along. In a memorable 2005 editorial,the New York Times reported, Yesterday, more than 20,000 people perished of extreme poverty.. And no one deserves to feel they're without hope. But indifference is never creative. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person\'s pain and despair. This time, we do respond. I expect that is why other great advocates for human rights have emphasized the danger of indifference. The meaning of the following passage changed if Wiesel used the word pain instead of anguish as C: Anguish carries more intense connotations, so using that word instead of pain raises the intensity of the passage. Indifference reduces the Other to an abstraction. He feels that neglecting a person's suffering makes it easy to dismiss that person as less than human. You can specify conditions of storing and accessing cookies in your browser. They focused relentlessly on Chauvins casual body language during his arrest of Floyd and the lack of concern on his face as he pinned Floyd to the ground. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. What will the legacy of this vanishing century be? It is far simpler to turn away from victims. It is being transfixed by last Novembers terrorist attacks in Paris while moving on after reading a headline last week about an even deadlier marketplace attack in Baghdad. nonobvious Explain. Garabandal: Are the Prophecies About to be Fulfilled? Why did some of America's largest corporations continue to do business with Hitler's Germany until 1942? Indifference. So many of our severelychallenged children and adults are pure and richhuman beings whose lives are often re-defined by the stares, the avoidance, the pity, the indifference of their fellow human beings. He once said: "Indifference is the enemy of human dignity. Why were they so few? Surely it will be judged, and judged severely, in both moral and metaphysical terms. (28-35). (62-63). How can it, if you're pretending what's going on simply isn't happening? In the present manuscript, the reasons why an indifferent position towards minorities may imply . Despite all this tragedy, Wiesel says he felt no sorrow because he believed they were dead. Indifference produces no response. infidel But both France and Belgium eventually fell to the Nazis, and some 254 refugees from the St. Louis ended up being murderedwhich means the U.S. government's choice to turn their backs on the passengers, to be indifferent to their experiences, led to the loss of innocent lives. Do we, should we, allow ourselves to be. [I]ndifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. And that ship, which was already in the shores of the United States, was sent back. The century saw peace treaties, the collapse of totalitarian governments and communist regimes, and major social progress. That look was freeze-framed in what the prosecution dryly called Exhibit 17. It shows Chauvin, the White Minneapolis police officer who was found guilty on all three counts in Floyds death, glancing at a crowd of onlookers while bearing down on an unconscious Floyd, who is handcuffed and pinned face-first to the pavement. My expectationsare different. "Defund The Police" was painted on 16th Street near the White House on June 8, 2020, in Washington. You fight it. It can spread quickly, affecting many people until no one trusts or cares about anyone else again. We can be more conscious of the how the food we eat, clothes we wear, and electronics we purchase are produced. This is why indifference is such a dangerous trait. White indifference is why its harder for Black and brown people to vote in some states than for White people. But Wiesel does give a shout-out to the Righteous Gentiles, non-Jews who saw what was happening around them and took a stand against it. Indifference is both individual and societal. Elie also believes that indifference causes others pain and suffering. (86-91). It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person\s pain and despair. America was built by folks searching for religious freedom, and Wiesel doesn't understand how such a place could turn its back on 1,000 people looking for that same freedomespecially when they'd heard whispers about the kinds of horrors happening in the Nazi-controlled parts of Europe. And what it represents could pose the biggest challenge to broader police reforms ahead. So, if the young Jewish boy from the Carpathian Mountains could still believe in the very best, anything is possible. Their fate is always the most tragic, inevitably. And our only miserable consolation was that we believed that Auschwitz and Treblinka were closely guarded secrets; that the leaders of the free world did not know what was going on behind those black gates and barbed wire; that they had no knowledge of the war against the Jews that Hitler's armies and their accomplices waged as part of the war against the Allies. Have we really learned from what we've seen and done, and do we have the knowledge necessary to make better choices in the future? The Jewish refugees on board the St. Louis were turned away from Cuba, and then from the United States, before they were accepted into various countries throughout Europe, including the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium. Its hard, though, to dramatize White indifference. Phil, I am so sorry that your family had to experience this tragedy. When individuals are apathetic, they do nothing. It's neither comfortable nor fun, but, according to Elie Wiesel, it's part of being a good human. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. answer choices "It is so much easier to avoid rude interruptions to our work". (107-108). Man can live far from God -- not outside God. They would have spoken out with great outrage and conviction. However, it does allow the evil to flourish by simply doing nothing. We have no value as human other than as much as we are true to our word. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. But the look of disinterest in Chauvins eyes is a reminder that indifference not just hate is a critical part of how racism works. But when the Americans liberated Buchenwald in 1945, Wiesel could see their horror as they realized the rumors were true, as they realized just how many millions of people had suffered and died. In the place that I come from, society was composed of three simple categories: the killers, the victims, and the bystanders. Indifference is when solicitude is missing which indicates that there is a lack of awareness. Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction. Even if you believe something bad about them, keep these feelings hidden from them too. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. They acted when they saw bad things happening around the world, and even though it didn't put a stop to all the trauma and suffering, taking action, on a small scale or on a large scale, will always be incredibly important. And now we knew, we learned, we discovered that the Pentagon knew, the State Department knew. C) "Anguish" carries more intense connotations, so using that word instead of "pain" raises the intensity of the passage. The trick is choosing to move beyond that place and take action to be compassionate and goodand that's not an easy thing to do. You might notice that the end of "The Perils of Indifference" looks pretty similar to the beginning, and Elie Wiesel does that on purpose. The same is true for hatred, since people will rise up and combat it. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. Ive come to realize that I have a lot more respect for people who are passionate about any cause, even if it is in opposition to mine, than I do for people who are just plain indifferent. Learn how your comment data is processed. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugeesnot to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. Even anger, according to Wiesel, is a more positive action than indifference. Indifference is when you don't care about someone or something. It is allowing millions of children and adults with mental and physical disabilities to languish in mental institutions around the world, hidden away and forgotten, dying prematurely and living directionless lives, when love, attention, and proper care could transform and extend their lives,infuse them with purpose, and enable people with disabilities to be full members of society. Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end. (81-85). And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. Gun violence, with more than 30,000 Americans per yearlost to gun homicide and suicide, fails to stir Congressto act. There is emotional indifference, which means failing to care about someone's feelings. Maybe it's because he wants people to think about the answers themselves, or maybe it's because he simply doesn't know what those answers are. Etymologically, the word means "no difference. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Indifference reduces the Other to an abstraction. They no longer felt pain, hunger, thirst. In his book, Race in the Mind of America: Breaking the Vicious Circle Between Blacks and Whites, psychologist Paul L. Wachtel wrote that what is often called racism can be more precisely described as indifference. If nobody cared, there would be no need for activism because there are people who want to fix things but cannot if nobody reports problems or tries new solutions. Indifference makes Black pain invisible just as it did with Floyd. My friends are funny. , by this and does her conclusion restate her claim, Which of the responses below contains a qualifier? We read on the front pages of our newspapers about the worlds indifference to ISIS attacks in Baghdad that slaughter hundreds of people. Defining humanity may not be simple, but in terms of basic rights, it's pretty clear that all people deserve certain things just because they're humanand one of those things is a recognition of their worth. At the start, he sets the scene to reminds his listeners of the very worst humanity had to offerthe Holocaust, Buchenwald, millions of people dead simply because of their race or religion. According to Elie Wiesel, when you make the choice to stop relating to other people, to stop understanding them and what they're going through, you lose the part of you that makes you human. Alicia also volunteers as an editor for her college newspaper, and has worked on various writing-related projects during her time there. What about the children? He addressed it to a group of White moderates who he thought were indifferent to the suffering of Black people living under segregation, and who were more devoted to order than to justice.. Wrapped in their torn blankets, they would sit or lie on the ground, staring vacantly into space, unaware of who or where they were, strangers to their surroundings. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Suffering and the need to aid that suffering is basic to us all. Also, attend well to the widowed (whose friends also disappear, the elderly, infirm, emotionally torn by personal demons). But when he finishes, Wiesel returns to the same scene to remind his audience that despite everything, part of being human means being innately hopeful. You're affirming their belief that no one gives a fig about themand as a result, you end up helping the bad guys. Indifference reduces the Other to an abstraction. It is merely another form of slavery. Is it becauseAdam is non-verbal and non-ambulatory? When adults wage war, children perish. What does Elie mean? They would have spoken out with great outrage and conviction. In the place that I come from, society was composed of three simple categories: the killers, the victims, and the bystanders. which statement best describes and explain the characters' actions in the excerpt black day 1935. You denounce it. Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction. Indifference elicits no response. If you are indifferent to something, it means that you do not care about it. Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred.

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indifference reduces the other to an abstraction

indifference reduces the other to an abstraction

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