The Threat of Apathy

When trying to think of what was good or bad in the world this week, I drew blanks at every turn. I hadn't heard of any problems from my friends or family. The news didn't interest me. Politics was the same-old same-old. Other peoples' problems were theirs, not mine. Every disappointment I had was either something I could make go away, or something I hadn't worked hard enough for.

It was all very self-centered, really.

I think that there is a danger in apathy. By definition, people come to believe that apathy happens when we don't care about anything. And there are truly apathetic people who care for nothing, politics or people or themselves - and these people waste away without others to care in their stead. In practice, however, apathy is usually just another kind of selfishness. I'm sure that even people who described themselves as apathetic would have complaints if, say, their lives were made more difficult, or were in danger, or if the person in question were unable to do what they personally wanted to do. It's when we look at others that the caring ends and apathy begins.

People these days sink so far into themselves and their own obligations and personal lives that the rest of the world may as well not exist. Maybe we're too busy. It's hard to pay attention to anything outside ourselves when we have a million other tasks to finish. Maybe we're afraid of putting our time, our emotions, our lives on the line for the sake of other people and their work.

But this is a problem. As human beings, we are creatures of community. We are like many islands, one that grew food, another that build great structures, another that created beautiful things, and so on, and all of which shared their gifts with the others. As we share our skills, our lessons learned and our raw potential, we build each other up. We grow in strength and ability and spirit when we are around people who are different from ourselves, who are not ourselves.

When we stop caring about others, we distance ourselves from them. We lose our bonds, our supports, and become islands of stagnating personality, untapped and unchanging and unnecessary.

Therein lies the threat of apathy.