Heart is Not Blind

“On ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux” – Le Petit Prince
What is essential is invisible to the eye, it is only with the heart that one can see rightly. —The little prince

 

Imagine a hypothetical instance in which you find that your mother has fallen ill. You may wonder: “But she looked so healthy, what happened?” To spare you and your family of the sorrow, she has hidden her illness until now. Despite knowing that her condition is terminal, and any sort of solution would be attempted in vain—would you try to help her anyway? The answer may be “Absolutely”. This points to the idea that there are instances that affect us so deeply, that indifference is not an option.

 

Nowadays, moral responsibility is a grey area. Do you feel responsible for the climate change, the economic inequalities around the world or the millions of war refugees? It is not easy because we’re all responsible, therefore, no one is. This gives birth to the most vicious sin of all: apathy. “There’s nothing I could do”, you may say, but you are be wrong. Indignation itself is a statement of solidarity. For this reason for me to hold the words of John Donne close to my heart: “any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee”.

 

So, before we even consider changing the world, we must change our perspective of one another, we’ve got to be able to feel every man’s and women’s suffering as our own. Once that happens, there will only be room for action. Will we able to turn a blind eye to  the truth when it’s presented to us with all its undeniable inequality? For that reason, information must be the first step, followed by the indignation generated by the conscience of the unfairness. Solidarity is an emotion that is not given by statistics and figures on the news, but on humanity’s natural instinct to see justice in the world.

 

Solidarity alone is not enough, we must also take part in changing the world. The process of change is often crippled by a social phenomenon that can be defined as ‘the bystander effect’ – a process of apathy as a response to a problem affecting a large group of people. With social problems of this type, the bystander always hopes that ‘someone else will do something’ about it. The result this usually brings a community in which no one doing anything to solve the problem that affects them all. Change starts from individual action, and such action that calls others into action and brings a greater response.  The task is too sensitive to entrust it to politicians or academics, it has to be a work made from the bases: communities and institutions of education. We propose education for ethics, arts for empathy and information to prompt to action as the guidelines for a revolution in the worldview. The fight against hate and poverty, disease and war, sexual abuse and corruption is not straightforward by any means, but you should know something for certain: you are  not alone! The work of anthropologist Margaret Mead supports the reality that small groups of committed citizens are the only thing that have ever brought change to the world.

We must open ourselves to the injustices occurring in the world– far and near. That implies recognizing the impact which every of our actions and omissions have, no matter how indirect or distant it is.  we have to build processes of education and communication to foster and grow a most conscious society. Out of sight does not, should not, and cannot imply out of mind.