Do Not Stand Idly By
This week, major news outlets brought the world the appalling story of Abraham Biggs, a young Floridian, who committed suicide while an entire chatroom community watched via webcast. He posted a suicide note. He posted the drug cocktail he would use. He set up his webcam, and by the time he slipped into unconsciousness, 181 people were watching the video. And only then, did anyone call the police.
Sadly, this is not the first such situation. The New York Times has reported other suicides that were watched by people around the world, comparing these chatrooms to the group of people who stand at the bottom of the building yelling "Jump! Jump!" to the man on the ledge. And almost any student in psychology 101 knows the horrifying story of Kitty Genovese who was murdered in an alley while countless people watched out their windows.
Mr. Biggs' story is merely one more small-scale portrait of the apathy, the indifference to the plight of others that we see daily on a national and global scale. Oftentimes, we see ourselves as too far removed from the plight of others, separated by oceans, by continents, by the abstract world of internet. But we must not forget that "as a human being, you don't watch someone in trouble and sit back and just watch." We are all connected in some way be it by global markets, by shared history, by shared religion, simply by the fact that we are all human.
We are not wholly without hope. Although he was too late, one man did try reaching police in Florida to tell them about Mr. Biggs...all the way "from his home in India." Well known celebrities like George Clooney spend their spare time using their status to keep the situation in Darfur in the public consciousness. Unknown concerned individuals spend their lives using every tool in their arsenal to keep changing the world for the better. Each of us can and must play a part. We can respond to a friend's cry for help or tell the President to respond to a people's cry for help, but we cannot merely sit back and do nothing.
Mr. Biggs' story is merely one more small-scale portrait of the apathy, the indifference to the plight of others that we see daily on a national and global scale. Oftentimes, we see ourselves as too far removed from the plight of others, separated by oceans, by continents, by the abstract world of internet. But we must not forget that "as a human being, you don't watch someone in trouble and sit back and just watch." We are all connected in some way be it by global markets, by shared history, by shared religion, simply by the fact that we are all human.
We are not wholly without hope. Although he was too late, one man did try reaching police in Florida to tell them about Mr. Biggs...all the way "from his home in India." Well known celebrities like George Clooney spend their spare time using their status to keep the situation in Darfur in the public consciousness. Unknown concerned individuals spend their lives using every tool in their arsenal to keep changing the world for the better. Each of us can and must play a part. We can respond to a friend's cry for help or tell the President to respond to a people's cry for help, but we cannot merely sit back and do nothing.