The Stigma Behind Silence
When caring is trendy…
I must start by saying, with a heavy heart, that my thoughts and prayers are truly with the people of Brussels, the whole country of Belgium and all of Europe. It’s become a horrifying norm, waking up to CNN alerts on our cellphones to learn of a terrorist attack. It shocks me. It angers me. I often find myself speechless during these times, for more reasons than one. I am stunned by the evil at hand, but I’m also in awe of the way people respond to such terrible events.
On November 13, 2015 — the day of the Paris attacks — I felt frustrated with the reaction, here in the states at least, that I witnessed. Within twenty four hours of the Paris attacks, a fine majority of everyone on Facebook changed their profile pictures to display a filter of the French Flag over a photo of their own. Sure, It may show that you care and that you have a heart and that you want to help. However, it’s the smallest sliver of care and respect that you can give — next to not acknowledging the event whatsoever.
I know even you, kind reader, partook in the changing of your profile picture. Allow me elaborate before you tell me off. Eli Roth, who’ve I’ve mentioned in another post of mine, said it best when regarding this form of lazy compassion: “Slacktavism.” It was a term he coined during a podcast interview with Bret Easton Ellis. I thought the term was genius, concise. It captures a zeitgeist, in a way. In modern America, it’s the day and age we live in. The era of technology has its pros and cons, like anything. We can keep abreast with the global happenings and contact friends and family members in a matter of seconds. If enough of us get to talking about a certain person or topic, it trends online. Yahoo will give us a list of the top searches. Twitter will offer a display of the popular hashtags. And Facebook has a whole trending section. It’s quite simple to stay in the loop, even if you’re tremendously busy on a daily basis. But this quick internet, and the instant gratification it can deliver, has also made plenty indolent.
When a terrorist attack strikes, especially in a relatively peaceful area, it is known of instantaneously. It will garner hours of coverage on major news networks. It will get people talking. And it will generate a hashtag, get trending. I must be honest when admitting this: I do find an issue (one) with the imminent hashtag. Aside from it raising awareness, it is because most people take ear to the event for a minute and immediately feel involved, or as if they must get their word in so it looks like they care. It’s bookclubish gossip tactics.
“I have to retweet this or it’ll look like I don’t have a heart.”
“I have to change my profile picture or else I’ll hear it from my friends.”
“If I don’t say anything at all, I look like the biggest jerk.”
“I have to write a status update to let everyone know I’m praying so I can look like a good person and feel better about myself.”
This is all slacktavism — the least, the absolute least, that someone can do to make themselves feel like they’re part of a movement. Everyone can press the share and retweet buttons. Excluding a post like this, which I have ambivalent feelings about already, I stay quiet during these times. I find it best not to say anything. I don’t want to get tangled into a political argument with someone who isn’t willing to hear me out — let alone meet me in person to talk about it! These are the people who haven’t read into the details, who’ve read one headline and feel totally informed and up to date with current affairs. They apparently gain foreign policy experience every time they hit “refresh” on their newsfeeds.
I have said, and will continue to say this: Character is developed in the dark.
Sure, volunteering is great. Yes, community service is admirable. But you don’t have to post about how good of a person you are when you do it. We get it. You have free time and do something great with it. Most of the people I look up to celebrate victory humbly. I’ll take a sore loser over a sore winner any day.
Point is, if you have a decent grasp on morality, you’ll know what’s at hand. You’ll care and I will know that. However, I believe we can do better. I believe we are truly better than a hashtag or a filter. Hashtags don’t pay bills. Retweets don’t get anyone back up on their feet. We can all come together to do better. We can saturate ourselves more with the information before we blindly speak and take a stance on anything. We can raise funds, write letters to politicians, extend our help to the affected families. This world is shared, equally yours and mine. I frankly don’t want to see it go up in flames as a result of ignorance and hatred. Evil will be demolished. The toxicity of fear will be wiped away. Love always wins.
Response? Heart? Thanks for reading, really! All the best.
photo by relevant magazine, poem by Shel Silverstein
