It's just been revoked! I mean, Indifference is my middle name!

Indifference may be one of the worst things brought into the world by man, but it may have it's uses. Hitler, one of the world's most hated persons, actually used his indifference to make break-throughs in human studies. His methods were, in fact, inhumane, but his results actually helped a bit in the medical fields. Perhaps some people should be a little more indifferent. Extrapolate a bit and imagine if the Afghani's had been a little more indifferent to the American people, would the twin towers have happened? Had any presidential assassin been more indifferent, how would America had turned out? Perhaps indifference isn't as horrible a thing as some people make it out to be. Maybe if indifference is used in the right area's, the world might actually take a turn for the better.

Indifference truly is the enemy.

Personally, this piece struck a definite and penetrating chord in me. Indifference truly is the enemy. We as human beings need not only to be sensitive to the plight and suffering of others, but we should do what we can to help alleviate it when we can. My heart and my undying admiration goes with all of those that crusade to help others that are subjugated and treated unfairly, no matter what the situation. As civilized people, I feel that we have an obligation to others on a grand scale. I see indifference every day in our country and in pains me. There are many people not only in America, but all over the world that are so absorbed in their own lives and personal comforts that they turn a blind eye to the suffering of others because it inconveniences them or makes them feel uncomfortable. I honestly feel that we should do what we can to assist, even if it is simply making others aware of the injustices and atrocities that take place around us, outside of our immediate spheres.

I find myself thinking often that I personally do not do enough. My aunt Ellen's best friend gave up her entire life here to live with the orphans in Haiti, assisting them with medical needs, food, clothing, and education. I receive her emails and end up in tears after every single one. People like her are all too rare, and I hope with all of my heart that more people join her in her compassionate quest to help alleviate people's pain and suffering. I also hope that I can come to a point in my own life very soon where I can do more and give more to others, especially those that may feel forgotten and abandoned, whether it be in my home country or abroad. Thinking of the author's own harrowing experiences turns my stomach and brings many questions to mind as to how those things could have happened. There are atrocities all around us though, and many continue to go on with people turning a blind eye or simply not being made aware. How can the world let this continue? Politics, money, religion, and power struggles play a never-ending a part. I do agree with Wiesel that indifference can render one inhuman. If we allow ourselves to live that way, with indifference and apathy running throughout our lives, we are not truly living and are cheating not only others, but ourselves out of what should be an integral part of the human experience that we share with others as we live out our lifetimes on this earth.

Vocabulary Discussion of The Perils of Indifference

-METAPHYSICAL
1. pertaining to or of the nature of metaphysics.
2. Philosophy.
a.concerned with abstract thought or subjects, as existence, causality, or truth.
b.concerned with first principles and ultimate grounds, as being, time, or substance.
3.highly abstract, subtle, or abstruse.
Origin: 1375–1425; late ME metaphisicalle < ML metaphysicālis.

-GULAG
1. the system of forced-labor camps in the Soviet Union.
2. a Soviet forced-labor camp.
3. any prison or detention camp, esp. for political prisoners.
Origin: 1970–75; < Russ Gulág, acronym from Glávnoe upravlénie ispravítelʾno-trudovýkh lageréĭ Main Directorate of Corrective Labor Camps

-ETYMOLOGY
1. the derivation of a word.
2. an account of the history of a particular word or element of a word.
3. the study of historical linguistic change, esp. as manifested in individual words.
Origin: 1350–1400; ME < L etymologia < Gk etymología, equiv. to etymológ(os) studying the true meanings and values of words (étymo(s) true + lógos word, reason) + -ia -y

-SS MURDER SQUADS
The German Einsatzgruppen (task groups) were execution squads that went in to places after the Wehrmacht. The squads were composed of kriminal polizei, Gestapo, Waffen SS and SD men. These Einsatzgruppen were responsible for killing over one million Jews.

-WEHRMACHT
Literally "defense force."
The name of the unified armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer (army), the Kriegsmarine (navy) and the Luftwaffe (air force). The Waffen-SS, an initially small paramilitary section of Heinrich Himmler's Allgemeine SS that grew to nearly a million strong during World War II, was not officially part of the Wehrmacht, but subject to OKW, OKH, as well as Field Command. Thus, the Waffen-SS was, de facto, a fourth branch of the Wehrmacht.
Although it is technically incorrect, the word Wehrmacht is often used to refer specifically to the German Army of the Second World War, as opposed to the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe.

-APARTHEID
1. (in the Republic of South Africa) a rigid policy of segregation of the nonwhite population.
2. any system or practice that separates people according to race, caste, etc.
Origin: 1945–50; < Afrik, equiv. to apart APART + -heid -HOOD