Societal indifference ¦ and a bit of Niemöller's 🐬

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Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) is best remembered for the quote above.
He was a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.

Different versions of the quotation exist. which is attributed to the fact that Niemöller spoke extemporaneously and in a number of settings.

However, regardless of what version you know or prefer, Niemöller's quote illustrates the importance of speaking up when things don't seem to be going on right, not minding the fact that the issue at hand doesn't affect you negatively.
it argues against apathy —and for the moral connectedness of all people.
it proves the fact that we owe it to ourselves and to our communities to lookout for each other, for the sake of each other. lest we be affected too. A funny quote perfectly frames this accurately too.

When you allow things slide, people would skate

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Let me give another illustration. Ever heard of the frog syndrome where a frog in a slowly heated pot of water?
At first, as the water increases gradually in temperature, the frog being poikilothermic in nature doesn't protest or try to get out of the obviously perceived harm, but rather chooses to adapt to the new temperature simply because it could or maybe it thought it wouldn't affect him in anyway harmful... unfortunately, it suddenly gets to a temperature where it could no longer deal. but at that point, it's already become too weak to leap out of the heat unscathed. thus, it ends up getting burnt!

Far too many people are like our frog today.
far too many people think its okay to mind their businesses and get on with their lives so far as what's wrong out there doesn't seem to have anything to do with them.. in my past years, I've been one. I used to believe that being silent at least would earn you some peace and keep you outta the conflict. to an extent it worked for me, but just for so long.

all it takes for evil to prevail is good people doing nothing about it.

I'd say this quote is spot on! Silence in the face of evil is deemed as flat out approval. at the moment, things would seem pretty fine because it doesn't affect us, but we're always judged by our actions and inactions and soon enough, those inaction comes beck to bite us in the ass. the bus is definitely gonna head off a cliff if everyone holds back!
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...Then they came for me.

oh come on already, you ain't fooling no one! people would always be aware of your input or lack of input in a situation. being indifferent to other people's predicaments when you really could have been of help because it's none of your business paints you as a selfish and narcissistic person. hence you stand a higher chance of being ignored if you get into trouble..

back in high school, we had a pretty good classmate named Jerry. everyone disliked Jerry not because we were jealous of his academic prowess, but because He was a narcissist. the dude literally didn't care about anyone but himself... this earned him loneliness in the classroom because frankly, no one wanted a narcissist and a scrooge for a friend.

One day, he forgot his mathematical set at home and it was time for basic engineering drawing test (which of course one major requirement to take the test was a mathematical set). somehow that day, he had very little money on him and he couldn't simply get a new one. Jerry was stranded that day. I'm pretty sure some of my classmates had more than enough to spare but no one wanted to assist. just not Jerry. weird enough, his pleas seemed to make us laugh even harder.

In the end, he missed the test and lost the marks..

in addition to Niemöller's quotation, there's so much we could learn from the story too..

no one exists for himself

the things we're laughing at and ignoring others for could somehow reach out to claim us.
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Speak Bravely!

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speaking up for others can help avert a huge amount of potential harm than the little we're trying to avoid.
speaking up for others indicates speaking up for ourselves too. it’s our duty—as it is everyone’s duty—to speak up for other minorities under attack, lest we be next. realizing that we are not alone, we have the moral obligation to speak up for the minorities under attack or abuse regardless of whether we like them or not.

Humanity is the Person next to you.

speak up when a neighbour is being stripped off of his rights wrongfully!

speak up when a weaker person is being exploited!

speak up for that shrewd little girl who's had her spot on the queue taken by the affluent with absolute disregard!

I don't know about you, but I want to live in a world Where People look out for each other.

Irrespective of who we are or what we believe in, I KNOW that the lessons from "first they came" can bind us together.

thank you for reading.
please follow @pangoli for more insightful blogposts.

Steem on!
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🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬🐬

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materials consulted:

http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/niem.htm

https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/mobile/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007392

https://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Niemöller