Really… can we afford to mind our business?
Two days ago, I followed a disturbing thread on Egghead Odewale’s Wall that ended with “mind your damn business”. It started with a post about a 14 year old girl who was sexually abused by series of men in Greater Manchester. The first comment to this post was a ‘burst of laughter’, now the writer of this comment may be excused for probably not grasping the subject matter before commenting but not for his next retort when his attention was drawn to it. Facing a rude awakening to his inanity, he fired at anyone who dared reprove him. Each contribution was followed with belligerent profanities.
Ideally this story should elicit compassion, but to think that someone somewhere found it funny and a ‘so what?’ occurrence tells a great deal about the world we now dwell in; a world where the thin line between fair and foul is completely blurred and the misfortune of others brings relief to the mind. Personally, I am horrified at the terrible ordeal of this teenager. For “10 days she was plied with alcohol and drugs, forced to have sex with a number of men, beaten, threatened and treated like a commodity”. While 14 today may be viewed as the 24 of yesterday, she remains a child legally and biologically. It also does not rationalize her coercion into prostitution by these perverts.
The commentator says this case of sexual exploitation is not happening for the first time and has nothing to do with him, so who specifically is affected?
The police, who took time to arrest the suspects, investigate and gather evidence for prosecution? I’m sure the case won’t have been handled any better if the girl’s parent was the Superintendent.
The Judiciary who sat through series of hearings and trials to confirm their guilt? Of course any familiarity, bias or informality to the accuser challenges the jury.
Friends and family who waited for 2 years to get justice for the survivor? They could as well wait until they are abducted and raped before speaking against it.
Or the meddlesome contributors who refused to shut their eye to mortification?
For some reason we must obey this universal law of apathy. Apparently the human mind no longer cringes at the news of bizarre occurrences, and calamities now serve as fodder for other stories of interest. “BradAngelina now known as Brad and Angelina” gets more hits than “Flood kills hundreds in Pakistan”. “3 year old raped to death”… shame I’ve heard of 18 months old!
And we are expected to look the other way by minding our damn business. Don’t challenge injustice, wickedness and crime because they are recurring decimals? The police should as well start selling candies, I mean whoever conjured that outfit should be exhumed and reburied foot out if dead. Teachers and parents should never reprimand but always give accolades if they can’t help looking that way. Robbers and rapist should raid anyone and anywhere they wish to. Governments should lie, loot and kill in lieu of accountability. Countries should invade countries and test their nuclear weapons on the people. Really… can we afford to?
Ideally this story should elicit compassion, but to think that someone somewhere found it funny and a ‘so what?’ occurrence tells a great deal about the world we now dwell in; a world where the thin line between fair and foul is completely blurred and the misfortune of others brings relief to the mind. Personally, I am horrified at the terrible ordeal of this teenager. For “10 days she was plied with alcohol and drugs, forced to have sex with a number of men, beaten, threatened and treated like a commodity”. While 14 today may be viewed as the 24 of yesterday, she remains a child legally and biologically. It also does not rationalize her coercion into prostitution by these perverts.
The commentator says this case of sexual exploitation is not happening for the first time and has nothing to do with him, so who specifically is affected?
The police, who took time to arrest the suspects, investigate and gather evidence for prosecution? I’m sure the case won’t have been handled any better if the girl’s parent was the Superintendent.
The Judiciary who sat through series of hearings and trials to confirm their guilt? Of course any familiarity, bias or informality to the accuser challenges the jury.
Friends and family who waited for 2 years to get justice for the survivor? They could as well wait until they are abducted and raped before speaking against it.
Or the meddlesome contributors who refused to shut their eye to mortification?
For some reason we must obey this universal law of apathy. Apparently the human mind no longer cringes at the news of bizarre occurrences, and calamities now serve as fodder for other stories of interest. “BradAngelina now known as Brad and Angelina” gets more hits than “Flood kills hundreds in Pakistan”. “3 year old raped to death”… shame I’ve heard of 18 months old!
And we are expected to look the other way by minding our damn business. Don’t challenge injustice, wickedness and crime because they are recurring decimals? The police should as well start selling candies, I mean whoever conjured that outfit should be exhumed and reburied foot out if dead. Teachers and parents should never reprimand but always give accolades if they can’t help looking that way. Robbers and rapist should raid anyone and anywhere they wish to. Governments should lie, loot and kill in lieu of accountability. Countries should invade countries and test their nuclear weapons on the people. Really… can we afford to?
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