The world at large

Bystander Syndrome – the modern version

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We’ve all heard about it, people staring at someone in difficulty and not raising a finger to help. When I was a kid it was called Bystander Syndrome and despite everyone agreeing what an awful thing it is, most are guilty of it. I’ve been on the receiving end of it myself. I was attacked in the street when I was sixteen by a stalker and no one helped me. I’ve heard people saying, “oh let’s not get involved, pretend we didn’t notice.”

The modern version of this is Bystander-With-Camera Syndrome. We’ve all seen the videos and photographs on social media. The crimes being committed, the accidents happening, the embarrassing moments, and we all laugh, cry, or are shocked together. Never do I see anyone commenting as to why the person was filming when they could’ve been helping. Now, instead of just pretending you haven’t noticed and slinking away, you get out your smartphone and brazenly film that young girl being beaten to death, or the man being killed, or the dead body of the dog that was hanged by a group of youths.

I wish I knew the reason why people do this. Surely it is better to be regarded as a hero for helping out, rather than the sicko that filmed it and didn’t help, or am I missing a vital point?

The added twist nowadays is the obligatory social media post, which usually goes something like this.

‘This sicko killed this dog. Let’s share this photo all over Facebook so that poor creature can have justice.’

Forgive me for being a tad dense but how the fuck does sharing the photograph over social media bring justice? So you believe the victim deserves justice eh? Then why aren’t you phoning the police instead of filming it or sharing it over social media? Do you really believe that Mark Zuckerberg is going to take all your shares and magically jail the sickos?

I really fail to understand the mentality of the amoeboid sludge that inhabits this planet in the guise of intelligent life.

Societal breakdown in 50 years or less

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Over the past ten years (give or take), I’ve noticed society changing for the worse. Rules are broken more, help is harder to find, and compassion is dying. We don’t care about each other anymore. We are angrier, more impatient, less tolerant, and more selfish. We scheme, deceive, and disobey. We need, we want, and we hate. Oh how we hate.

People kill each other more often and for even more stupid reasons than ever. More people are afraid to leave their homes than ever before. You are more likely to get mugged, robbed, beaten, raped, and murdered today than ever before, by people who are far younger than ever before. You can’t trust anyone today. Not your family, your neighbours, nobody. Your doctors and health care people are not only less well trained, but they are more likely to kill you than they were fifty years ago, either on purpose or because they just don’t care enough. The police and government are corrupt. That hasn’t changed, they’re just more open about it than ever before. We’re bombing each other off the face of the earth for control of a dwindling oil supply, yet refusing to invest in wind/solar/hydro power that will power society forever without harming our world. We’re trying to get to Mars but spending nothing on cleaning up the mess we’re still making on this planet.

You can’t even go into a store and be smiled at by the staff.

Society is breaking down, fast. I first began to notice it around ten years ago but it’s moving faster now. Over the past couple of years I’ve watched society hurtle ever faster towards its own destruction. I firmly believe that we are now way past the point of no return. No matter what we try now, we cannot save ourselves. There is nothing for us to do but sit and watch as we destroy our own societies. It is as inevitable as the dawn.

Why is this happening? There are two reasons I can think of right away. Population and human nature.

There are now far too many of us for the planet and our preferred way of life to support. As our personal space becomes, by necessity, smaller and smaller, we become more and more territorial and defensive. We need a certain amount of space to call our own and when that space is gradually eaten away, forcing us into ever closer contact with others, there comes a point where it is detrimental to our mental health and aggression is the result. More people mean more building for homes, schools, shops, workplaces. More buildings need land. More land for building means less for each of us to have as our personal space. Squeeze us too hard and we’ll push back. When deprived of the right environment for mental development, we become mentally imbalanced. Sociopathy, psychopathy, schizophrenia, and other mental diseases become more prevalent and our behaviour towards each other deteriorates.

How can we overcome this problem? I don’t think we can now. I think it’s far too late to recover and I firmly believe that society as we know it today will have totally broken down within the next fifty years.

Have you seen the new Mad Max movie? That’s where we’re heading, fast.