On doing nothing

Many agree that our young people have become very complacent and care-free about their commitment to improve the world they will be living in, when we are all gone. Experts believe that complacency cannot be a root cause; it is being exhibited by the majority of our educated young citizens as a result of the conditions prevalent when they grew up. Someone blindly following what everyone else is doing, without realising the dangers and consequences that can arise, is actually being complacent by following the herd instinct. Does our education system push people to be complacent when it should push them in the opposite direction, to be more active in society by speaking up when they see injustices happening, when foreigners are being abused and ridiculed when they should be welcomed and encouraged to use their native talents and gifts? Unfortunately, it does. As Andy Grove – a former CEO of Intel Corporation – put it: ‘Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive. The tragedy of life is often not in our failure, but rather in our complacency; not in our doing too much, but rather in our doing too little; not in our living above our ability, but rather in our living below our capacities.’ Yevgeny Yevtuschenko, a Russian author once said : 'I noticed that the wicked people of this world usually hang out together, even when they hate each other – and this is their strength. Good people on the other hand, are scattered – and this is their weakness.' This tendency is happening too often. Evil, hatred and violence are glorified, while goodness, kindness and philanthropy stay hidden. The biggest failure in our present society is simply that the good people, when they see the need to contribute, instead, do nothing !