As I go about my community, travel around the nation and the world, and listen to the news, I see so many things that are just wrong! I see man’s inhumanity to man and other actions that should not be allowed. Yet they continue, because nothing is being done to stop it. Right is right and wrong is wrong! So, this is what is on my mind this Monday morning.
October is National Bullying Prevention Month. For several months, I was part on an Anti-Bullying Task force here in Monroe, but for some reason, it does not meet anymore. I will not get into the statistics here, but there are literally millions of people being bullied every day. And what is sad about it is that there are many who while not perpetrators, turn a blind eye to this sort of behavior. Currently in the news is the sexual harassment charges against Harvey Weinstein. I am sure others knew about this man’s behavior, but they did nothing. Both sexual harassment and bullying are harmful negative behaviors. Other such harmful behaviors include any kind of discrimination (except price discrimination – from an economics perspective, of course).
For those of us who observe discrimination, bullying, sexual harassment or other such behaviors and do nothing, we may be as guilty as the perpetrators. We have an obligation to take action if we observe any kind of misbehavior or see anyone being wronged. Here are a few quotes about INACTION:
“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” — Benjamin Franklin.
“Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the oppressed.”– Elie Wiesel
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”– Haile Selassie
“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it. “– Albert Einstein
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” — Edmund Burke
“A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case, he is equally accountable to them for the injury.” — John Stuart Mill
Please resolve to take action whenever you see or observe any wrong behavior, it’s the only way to make this world a better place for all of us.
MCCC President's Blog 