Human Indifference And The Status Quo

Today I read about 2 stories that made me think about the way we humans are self centered. We really can't help it. It's a survival instinct. The brain makes you focus on only your issues in the hopes that it will extend your existence. It's the social conscience (in the form of schools, parents, religion and any other communal entity) that actually steers you away from yourself and tells you that you should share and think of others.

So what has happened that has turned off that social consciousness?

Let me explain - I read today that a woman was raped in the subway and the subway clerk and onlookers did nothing. The rapist was apparently so secure of humanity's indifference that he raped her numerous times in spite of an arriving train pulling into the station. To make matters worse, the victim has tried to take the MTA to court since the MTA employees did nothing and a judge has decided that they "had no obligation to do anything to help her other than to signal their superiors that police were needed at the station" (ARTICLE HERE)

I get that the subway employees only have to press the emergency button and not put their lives in danger or make matters worse, but c'mon...really? Pretend you're going to beat the rapist up. Or at least yell "I called the cops, you better leave her alone." Something...ANYTHING...that says "I give a damn."

Fast forward to today. Some guy jumped off the 3rd floor of the Queens Center Mall and landed on a kid. The kid that was landed on survived and the jumper died instantly. Now, I'm, not a shrink, but I've heard that many people try to commit suicide as a "cry for help." If this poor sap's goal was to have one of the hundreds of shoppers stop him from jumping then he grossly miscalculated his target (no pun intended) audience.

Shoulda, coulda, woulda - nothing can change the past. It should probably also be noted that this is nothing new since there have always been stories of people getting run over and shot in a crowd and no one stepping forward as a witness. Instinctively, we care only about our own asses. That's why we always teach children to break the natural human program and do what's considered socially responsible.

The part that bothers me is that through centuries of evolution, we seem to have still not been able to master this simple lesson. It's sad that people are more likely to help a hurt animal on the side of the road than a fellow human being. Maybe part of it is disbelief ("is that REALLY happening?), or fear but either way, it's society as a whole that suffers.