That Which Drives UsApathy: from Greek a (without) and pathos (emotion). A lack of feeling or emotion. A lack of interest or concern. � Mirriam Webster Dictionary
In the choice between changing one's mind and proving there's no need to do so, most people get busy on the proof. � John Kenneth Galbraith
To be nobody but yourself�in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else�means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting. � e. e. cummings
I look a that quote by e. e. cummings, and I face a quandary� a hesitation. The herd mentality has long been a big pet peeve of mine. Something to fight against, and encourage others to fight against.
Individuality. The right to be yourself, think for yourself.
Individuality: noun. Total character peculiar to and distinguishing an individual from others.
Strangely enough, a long time ago, individuality meant �the state of being indivisible�, unable to be separated. To remain grouped together.
And so I face a quandary.
There is a drive in me to bring change, to fight for it. To destroy the apathy that holds my generation in its grip like a vice. To destroy the apathy that holds my country. There is a feeling deep down within me, that there is something grossly wrong with our country, a sickness that must be purged. But I don�t know what that sickness is. And I don�t know how to purge it.
Maybe you have felt it. I think most people do. I think that whenever a Christian blames the problems of the world on the lack of God at its center, they feel it. I think that whenever there�s a homeless guy asking for change on the street, and the driver rolls up his window to avoid him, they both feel it. I think that lawyers feel it, I think that politicians feel it, I think children feel it. I think maybe children feel it better than the rest of us. But I also think that we all think there�s nothing we can do about it.
Vladimir: Well? Shall we go?
Estragon: Yes, let�s go.
STAGE DIRECTION: They do not move.
� The last two lines in Waiting for Godot
Here�s a question: if most people feel there�s a problem, why isn�t there a general admittance that there is, in fact, a problem? If most people think something�s wrong, why aren�t most people trying to fix it?
After all this fighting for individuality, for the freedom to be myself, for encouraging others to be themselves, I�m beginning to think that it�s gotten out of hand. Or at least grossly misunderstood. Individuality, I mean, not my fight for it.
Take our consumption of natural resources, for example. Imagine you�re talking to a driver of the world�s most inefficient Sport Utility Vehicle (take your pick), let�s be outrageous and say you�re talking to someone who drives a Hummer. Let�s say you start talking about our nation�s consumption of oil and they actually bother to stay and listen. It takes very little for anyone with even a slender degree of intelligence to see that America is dependent on oil the same way a heroin addict is dependent upon his drug. It takes no effort whatsoever to dig up statistics, to show verifiable proof that oil is a non-renewable energy source, and the manner in which we consume it is horrifyingly bad for our environment. Let�s say you do all this without once condemning this person for driving their car of choice.
If the person in this imaginary situation hasn�t already driven off in your mind yet, I�d say a miracle has occurred. Even so, let�s say that they�ve listened to you and have managed not to get offended (though, let�s be honest, those that get offended aren�t really feeling offended; they�re feeling guilty, and they are mad at you for pointing it out to them), so, what kind of response can you expect from them? What kind of response should we expect from them? In the democratic-capitalist society we live in, it would be an affront to their freedom and dignity to suggest they limit what sort of car they are free to buy. The most I expect out of this imaginary person is a �I agree, something needs to be done� sort of sentence.
More talk. More rhetoric without the backing of action to give it power. It�s always �something should be done� and �someone should do something about that�. I�m pretty tired of hearing that. Hell, I�m tired of saying it. We need to change our thinking. We need to change our way of life.
Our way of life. What we have become accustomed to. Another, dirtier, name for our way of life would be �habit�.
�We called him Mother Superior on account of the length of his habit.� � Mark Renton, Trainspotting
Here�s a horrible thought: We are living the life we choose. Every time we�ve been challenged to change, to explore, every choice we make, every day-to-day decision has created the life we have. It makes it hard to blame others, but amazingly enough, people do it.
We have Starbuck�s habits, fast food habits, television habits. People get overweight because they have a habit of eating too much. People have smoking habits, drug habits, sex habits. Some people call them addictions, but whichever, habit or addiction, how hard is it to break? How hard is it to stick to a diet plan, to keep going to the gym regularly? I need to lose weight. I need to stop smoking. I need a better job.
Every time we face the choice between risk and comfort, we choose comfort. To do otherwise means the possibility of failure, of loss, of everybody knowing how weak you are.
�If you think you can or can�t you are right.� � Henry Ford
And so I have a quandary. Have you figured it out yet?
How do I fight apathy, without challenging your right to be an individual? It is, after all, your choice. All I can do is put the challenge on the table, for all of us.
Yes, as hard as it may be to believe, I too am apathetic. I choose comfort over risk, pick actions that are habit making rather than habit breaking. I�d like to think that writing this is me taking a big step forward.
What I need is someone to encourage me to take another step. A support group. Someone to keep me enthusiastic about change. To help me avoid apathy.
�We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.� � Charles Kingsley
I think that maybe this is the solution. To find friends who will get on your ass when you start to slip up. That when you�re fucking things up, they�ll say, �You�re fucking up,� and not, �So, how are things going?� We need friends who will be more than just shoulders to cry on, or people to complain to.
The other thing we need to do is act immediately. Every day we procrastinate is another day we have to make up excuses so that we can procrastinate tomorrow as well.
�Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired.� � Jules Renard
The easiest excuse ever made was, �I�ll do it later.�
When is later? Later. There�s no specificity to it. No drive for completion.
If we can do it now, we should. If we can�t do it now, then we need to ask ourselves if it will ever get done. Please, be honest with yourself. If we decide that yes, it will get done, but not now, come up with a when. Make that choice. Write it down.
I know, it�s beginning to sound like one of those self-motivator courses or something. Sorry. I just think that if it�s something you feel is important to enough to get done now, but you can�t, then it�s important enough to schedule now a time when you can, rather than leaving it as an indefinite later.
I�m not saying you need to get a scheduling book, though you may want to. Try doing it in such a way that you can get your friends involved, or whoever you�ve chosen to support you. Give them an envelope with a note in it of what you want to do, but can�t do now. Tell them to mail it to you when you know you�ll be able to do it. It�s an easy way to keep yourself on the ball and get your friends to support you.
Come up with a list of things you don�t do that you know you should.
Recycle. Be more energy efficient. Show more compassion to others. Whatever it is, you�ll have it to remind you. Share it with your friends, and have your friends share their lists with you.
Does all this sound stupid? If it does, is it stupid because you know you can change without help? Or is it stupid as an excuse because you are afraid to try it?
Let�s start small. Come up with one thing you wish you did differently or that you are unhappy with. Ask yourself why you are unhappy, and why you haven�t changed it. Now tell me. Is the answer really so hard?
�Life moves on, whether we act as cowards or heroes. Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.� � Henry Miller
