Apathy Manifesto

Call the Surgeon General! There is an epidemic in the country.  Yes! A disease! An infection that all young people are suffering from! They are suffering from it right now! YOU may be suffering from it! Everyone is dying right now! It’s effecting your brain! What disease could be so deadly to everyone, especially our youth, that continuously goes undetected, that no one knows about?

As Americans we consistently struggle with it.  Teachers, parents, professors, family members, coaches, mentors and the like experience it everyday but have no clue on how to prevent this disease from happening. The only cure for it is never taken seriously enough for people to unite and form a grass-root movement for the cure. Everyone has access to this cure but they walk right past it, because technology advancement has taken over and conceals it.  Politicians talk about how important it is, but doesn’t guarantee everyone the same access. You can’t get this cure at the doctor’s office.  Why? Because they don’t supply it and they can’t prescribe it. It’s a mental disease but even psychiatrists can’t help anyone. This disease is the reason why we have the attitudes we have in this country.  This disease is why we can never solve enough problems.  This disease is why we are all still segregated. This disease has you complaining everyday about your job, your children, your friends, your family.  It engulfs your entire being and you can’t even tell if you’re suffering from it or not.  There is a name for this disease but you won’t find it in a medical dictionary.

Are you ready to know the name of this disease?

APATHY.

According to the New Oxford Dictionary:

apathy |ˈapəTHē| noun.

lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern: widespread apathy among students.

ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from French apathie, via Latin from Greek apatheia, from apathēs ‘without feeling,’ from a- ‘without’ + pathos ‘suffering.’

Apathy has caused us to not care.  Apathy has caused ongoing issues in this country to go unresolved.  It has caused the grass-root movement to be ignored; the basis of how change occurred in America.  It has caused intellectuals to become enraged and flee.

After the assassinations of influential leaders during the Civil Rights Era, and the natural deaths of its remaining survivors, their causes have died with them. We forgot about all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into what they changed in this country and how they changed it. What’s the result today?  Narcissistic Americans that are discourteous to the concerns of their fellow man.  They did not die in vain! Apathy has stagnated us, made us comfortable with being mediocre, and made us fear words like change.

“Fear of the unknown is how great things start.” –Dr. Laura
@drlauraprogram

Change is scary.  Why? Because you don’t know the outcome.  Being comfortable is easier than changing.  Why? Because you get the same results. Results that we know.  Change should be embraced with open arms, but are we that weak minded? Apathy not only has changed our mentalities to change, but it has caused an even greater infection. Worse than apathy.

IGNORANCE.

New American Oxford Dictionary definition:

ignorance |ˈignərəns|noun

lack of knowledge or information

ORIGIN Middle English: via Old French from Latin ignorantia, from ignorant- ‘not knowing’

As an 80’s baby, ignorance amongst my generation not only frustrates me…it SCARES me! Why? Because it’s only getting worse! Ignorance amongst the youth is at an apocalyptic level.  (YES APOCALYPTIC) Ignorance only breeds ignorance and because of the apathy exuded by today’s youth towards reading, writing, and arithmetic it’s not going to get better until we, as a society, do something about it!

Materialism, the infatuation of being famous, and rich is always on the treadmill in the minds of our youth.  They use social networks in an attempt to become famous and filthy stinking rich as they lavish in their ignorance. Everyone wants to be liked and accepted by others, but to seek validation of who you are by how popular you are on Twitter is a problem.  They only care about being a part of the “in crowd.” Frankly, it’s sad.  Don’t they know that they are better than relying on a social network for self-acceptance? But who is there to stir them away from this mindset? Their parents? Their relatives? For those that have that influence, I’m pretty sure they are doing what they can. What about those who don’t have that influence? Who are they looking up to?

The youth doesn’t care about the Declaration of Independence. They don’t care about their history. They don’t care about causes that can enable or influence new policy. As I have learned in corporate America, two people working for the same company with the same position can have two different levels of productivity; one worker’s level of productivity is higher than the other.  What’s the difference between their levels of productivity? One cares about their position, the role they play in the company, what they do a part of that role, while to other one is lazy, getting by with doing the minimum, wasting time and space for monies “earned.”

I bet reading this has you thinking now. Well, how can we solve this issue amongst our youth? Amongst our society? What is the cure to this epidemic?

MOTIVATION.     

EDUCATION.

APPLICATION.

EQUATES THE CURE.

C=M+E+A

A strong support system MOTIVATES.

An influential teacher lacking apathy EDUCATES. 

A good student that listens and takes notes APPLIES what is learned.

All components of this equation are equally important, but without application the sense of education and motivation would not exist.

This is the cure to solve this epidemic.  This infection that is secretly killing our society.

For those of you that remember the song “The Greatest Love of All” by Whitney Houston, she starts the song by singing

“I believe the children are the future

Teach them well and let them lead the way”

Some people may have mixed feelings about me mentioning this song, because of the very sad death of the late Whitney Houston, or the fact that I’m referencing this song in this blog. Whitney is right.

I bet whatever facial expression on your face or comment you had in your head went away once you asked a young person about their dreams or who they idolize.  I bet that smile turned upside down when that 10 year-old boy said “I want to be like 2 Chainz when I grow up in the strip club! He gets all the girls naked!” or that little girl said “I’m going to be famous because I’m pretty. I can always become a rapper or a stripper!”   Yup! There goes our future…When I was five years old I wanted to be nurse…not a stripper, a rapper, or some girl in a video. We MUST “TEACH THEM WELL” before we “let them LEAD THE WAY.”