Home of the Free

        For those of you that follow this blog, you may (or may not) have noticed that I have had a rather sour disposition lately. This could be caused by many things, I read a lot and make an effort to follow the news, and as we all know, the news mostly reports the negative side of mankind, and as hard as I try to not let the outside world affect me personally it is hard to shut out everything.  This is of course only a theory. However, regardless of all that, recently I have been reminded of something that made me re-evaluate my current attitude. I remembered that I am an American. Don't get me wrong, I will be the first person to express my opinions on the current state of America, whether it's our increasing unemployment rates, our failing social security system, or even Steve Jobs quest to take over the world. side-note: it's only time until the iPod becomes self aware. Despite all these things, I am still proud to be an American, and I will tell you why. I have spent just enough time outside the United States to understand that all types of societies have their own brand of problems. I have been to countries where it is accepted as part of their culture to act in a way that in America would have you imprisoned, or worse. I am not saying that the U.S. is immune from these types of problems, of course we aren't. However, the main difference that I have noticed is that although we may have similar types of problems, Americans as a whole accept these things as wrongdoing and do what they can to stop it, or at least slow it down. I know that it is very simple to look only at the negatives in our society today, we are bombarded by it, but if you can, please sometime this week take a moment and recognize the good that you have in your life, and ask yourself, would you have the things that you are grateful for, if you lived on another part of this planet. My daughter just celebrated her second birthday, and although I could not be there, which made me terribly sad, I was beyond joy to know that my family lives in a country where in ten years my beautiful daughter will not be sold into prostitution and in four years, my six year old son won't be expected to carry an assault rifle to protect himself. These are things that we might take for granted, because we are more concerned with the release date of the iPad 2. But I urge you, don't take for granted that you live in a country whose leaders are genuinely concerned for your well being. No matter what you may think about the U.S. Government or the Military, I promise you, no matter what you think the agenda might be, they are doing a good job. I chose a career path that forced me to decide whether or not I truly believed in America and what she stands for, and you know what, I do. I believe that beyond anything else, America stands for people. It stands for the man on the street protesting war, just as it stands for the servicemen that have died in that war. It stands for my family, just as it stands for yours. And just as a father will protect his children from harm, I believe that these United States of America will protect it's citizens.   

Thanks for Reading
-Phillip         

The Bystander Effect and Catherine Genovese

        In case you don't know, "The Bystander Effect" or "Genovese Syndrome" is a social psychological phenomenon that refers to cases where individuals do not offer help in an emergency situation. This most commonly occurs when there is a group of people witness to an event, because they believe that someone else will do something about it. Even the idea of the concept makes me sick and causes me to often lose faith in humanity. Regardless, of what you may think, this is a legitimate phenomenon. Those of you in my generation might remember the last two episodes of Seinfeld, when the main characters were arrested on a duty to rescue violation, after watching a man get hijacked at gunpoint, and failed to do anything about it. The movie, "kick-ass" also has a great scene where the main character protects a man from getting beaten and probably killed from 3-4 assailants. These, of course, are designed to be dramatic and funny and make money, but this is a very real and very scary idea. The idea that, if I am in danger, or more importantly, my wife or kids are hurt or need help, and there are witnesses that could do something, they might not do anything. I don't get scared often, but this terrifies me.
        Those of you that know me personally, know that I believe every person has an important story and that story should be shared. Well, I didn't really want to share this story, but if I didn't, then I too would know I was doing nothing, victim of this bystander effect. I understand that there is nothing that I can do for this person, but I believe that there is probably someone out there that will find themselves in a situation that could truly help to change a persons life. If you find yourself in a situation like that, just please, remember this story:   


        The most infamous example of the bystander effect took place on March 13, 1964, in Kew Gardens, Queens, NY, when Catherine Genovese was entering her apartment building at about 3:15 AM, from work. She was stabbed twice in the back by Winston Moseley, a heavy machine operator, who later explained that he simply “wanted to kill a woman.”Genovese screamed, “Oh, my God! He stabbed me! Help me!” and collapsed. Several neighbors in surrounding buildings reported hearing her voice, but decided it was probably just a drunken brawl or lovers’ spat. One man shouted from his window, “Let that girl alone!” which scared Moseley away. This neighbor was sure to have seen Genovese crawling across the street, under a streetlight, to her apartment, but did nothing to help her. Witnesses saw Moseley drive away, then return about 10 minutes later. He had put on a wider-rimmed hat to hide his face, and searched for Genovese in the parking lot, the train station, and the apartment complex, for 10 minutes, before finding her prone in the external hallway at the rear of the building, where the door was locked. She could not get in. Moseley proceeded to stab her to death, inflicting multiple wounds in her hands and forearms, indicating that she tried to fight him off. She finally succumbed and he raped her as she lay dying. He then stole around $50 from her and fled. The whole incident spanned 30 minutes. A newspaper blasted it the next day as “Thirty-eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call Police,” but this is inaccurate. There were approximately 12 people who claimed to have seen the first attack. Many of them later stated that they “just didn’t want to get involved.” A simple phone call to the police would have sufficed, but everyone assumed someone else would do it.

        It is our responsibility as humankind to do what we can to try and stop the suffering of our fellow man. I am not asking anyone to be heroes, in fact quite the opposite, do what is in your means, just be aware and take responsibility for your surroundings. Call the cops, if that is what it takes, but more than likely, changing someones life involves much less than that. Listen, be a friend, correct each other. If we don't hold each other accountable for our actions, how can we expect to grow as a society? 

Thanks for Reading
-Phillip