Indifference

Unconcern
Indifferent people
Dependence on indifference

Incidence

A study revealed that the New York Times ran 811 stories on the plight of European Jewry from November 1941 - November 1944; that these pieces ran 3 out of every 4 days; that on April 6, 1942 clear evidence of mass exterminations was reported; and that by June 30, 1942 the paper reported the death of one million Jews. But little play was given this news. There were no banner headlines, few front page articles, and few editorials. A 1983 UN study predicted a widespread famine in Ethiopia and Sudan if measures were not taken to rectify the situation; Pol Pot's regime massacred 2 million Cambodians as the news was reported to the world; and Amnesty International cites more than 50 countries where torture is a routine course of events.

Claim

Of greater significance for humanity than war, pollution and other disasters is the widespread indifference to such problems and to the possibility of remedial action.

Indifference constitutes a sin of omission.

There is a limit beyond which indifference turns into a dysfunctional social injustice.