Get involved! By Margareta

Imagine a completely defenseless young girl. She wanted to enjoy her day. Suddenly a man attacks her, steals her things and seriously injures her. She will spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair. Imagine that the people passing by had intervened, that they had rescued her, and all her life would have been changed. Incidents such as this happen every day, everywhere.

Many people have the power to change things, but choose to remain silent, not to intervene. They refuse to get involved...

Einstein said: "The world is dangerous to live! Not so much because of those who do evil, but because of those who watch and do nothing". Commitment makes people scared; taking responsibility for others is more difficult than adopting an attitude of indifference. But how can society develop and maintain moral values when it is able to tolerate this indifference dictated by laziness or fear? Is it so hard to get out of one's selfish shell and act? Do personal comfort, lack of sense of responsibility, tolerance of evil justify the fact that we close our eyes to deadly attacks, environmental destruction, violation of human rights? How long will we tolerate this? When will we decide to finally act? How long can we wait before we act? How many deaths will it take to realize the seriousness of the situation? And when the time comes, if it comes, will not be too late?

Many governments are indifferent to unlawful acts. The United States ignores some cruel, inhuman violations of human rights in China where people are afraid to speak or write against the totalitarian regime. And yet, there is violation of freedom of movement or expression on a daily basis. China, Cuba and many other countries act likewise. Russia tolerates North Korea and expresses its regrets at the death of a cruel dictator, dictator of a country where people are starving, where they do not have access to information, where they cannot move to another country. But the question arises: why do we accept this violence, evil, why this passivity? Why is remaining indifferent easier, safer and more beneficial? The answer in one word: money. Economic partnerships create blindness and make us forget our values. Money has become more important than the fundamental rights of man, or human life.

Men are not just indifferent to humanity, but also towards Mother Nature. The Brazilian government tolerates the devastation of the Amazon forest, causing irreversible climate changes for the entire planet. Again we let them to do so because of economic interests. Diplomatic efforts in this context are just a farce.

There is collective indifference to the plight of others, but also individual indifference. The reason (money) is not necessarily the same, but the results are identical. Governments should serve as positive models for individuals...

Max Ringelmann, in the early 19th century, described how an individual loses his sense of personal responsibility when he is part of a group. If the group behaves badly the individual feels that he is not personally accountable for his own or even the group's behaviour.

No man is an island! And, as Jean-Paul Sartre pointed out, Man, who is condemned to be free, is responsible for everything he does, including tolerating the evil deeds people perpetrate on each other. We have to commit ourselves to others, become "engagé" as the French say.

Our society provides opportunities for individual success; one is nothing without the others in society. A man, in the Existentialist world, is an isolated individual, without ties, focused on his own ego, full of anxiety, aware of the emptiness of his life and conscious of the inevitability of death. In this "nothingness" a person can try to overcome his desperation, acquire knowledge and try to achieve self-realization, to give meaning to his life by doing something useful for himself and others. His freedom can be constructive.

The freedom and democracy found in most social groups necessarily brings responsibilities. Many people, however, take democracy and freedom for granted and they do not realize that maintaining these fundamental values also depends on their sense of civic duty. Each step towards justice requires personal sacrifice. The Arab Spring is the most recent example of individuals prepared to take risks not just for themselves, but for collective well-being.

We must protect what previous generations have fought for. We can no longer tolerate the violation of human rights, starving or any other injustices, because we have no excuses to do so. If we want a just society we have to apply the principle of solidarity, because “unity is strength”.

Martin Luther King gave us this cautionary tale: "In some situations, Cowardice asks: Is it safe? Experience then raises the question: Is it diplomatic? And Vanity puts the question: is it popular? But finally, Conscience says: Is this fair? There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor diplomatic, nor popular but one must do it because conscience tells us that it is right."

Cowardice, selfishness, indifference, fear, laziness, individualism... These all exist, but, just like Martin Luther King, Mandela, and Gandhi, there are courageous men and women who act, resist, fight for human rights and freedom, to allow other men to raise up their heads, to live free, or simply to live...

The Tunisians who set themselves on fire causing the most incredible chain reaction in the Arab world are also people of courage, who sparked off collective actions, which demonstrate the will to act and the will not to let things be.

"Indignez-vous", Stéphane Hessel's book, is a worldwide bestseller which has encouraged movements against the power of money and for better living conditions.

The "Prague Spring" in 1968 attempted to defend freedom and democracy, "očistný vítr a klid se vznáší nad Prahou", "a purifying breeze and serenity blowing above Prague city" wrote Václav Havel.

Young people should be our best hope. The problem is that they do not really know, they do not understand diversity and they do not accept differences. So that they do not always care about others, they are indifferent to injustice simply because they do not feel concerned.

The great opportunity is volunteering, for example in Canada each student is required to do volunteer work and in the end, they do not do it because they have to, but because they want to. New generations must learn to protect the principle of solidarity and learn how to contribute to society. The sooner they learn, the sooner they will understand the importance of it. We must protect the moral values of our society for future generations; we must stop taking things for granted and start to appreciate the society in which we live by the commitments we make. "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country!" said JFK. His words are still true today.

Act! Realize that we are all responsible for what happens around us. Martin Luther King said: "He who accepts evil without fighting against it, cooperates with it". He, like Einstein, was right.