The Perils of Indifference

The speech made by Elie Wiesel is nothing short of awe inspiring and one hundred percent truth. He talks about indifference and how it is humanity’s plight. It is much easier to turn away and ignore those who are being oppressed in the world than to unite together and fight evil and pursue justice. Wiesel was there – in a place worse than hell – and he now devotes his life to fight this “indifference” and “appeasement”.

His speech was very invigorating and made me think of why indifference is an issue. I don’t understand. Every country has an obligation to seek world peace. If a neighboring government is killing its own people, the international community must take action. That is what The United States and its coalition did with Iraq and Saddam Hussein. There was a threat and we took action. However, sometimes it might lead to further chaos and destruction but the risk must be taken. Imagine if France and Britain stood up and defied Hitler? It’s a matter of global security and peace. We must look at indifference and overcome it.

Indifference is still a problem presently. It was a problem in the 1930s when Hitler rose to power. It was a problem when the Rwandan genocide took place. I fear that it will always be a problem. The Iranian regime has made their intentions clear – they want the destruction of Israel. The more horrifying thing is that this might come to be. French president Chirac told reporters that it’s no big deal if Iran gets nuclear weapons. With a very destructive country who is a state sponsor of terrorism, it is very disturbing to see political leaders appeasing to this imminent threat.