Bystanding

The woes of the world call forth the loudest outcries from the bystanders. Bystanding is not the closest possible adjustment to the universe.

Adults love to talk about the importance of bystanders in stopping social cruelty. But bystanding is really complicated, and when we encourage our children to do it we rarely think about whether we're willing and able to do it ourselves.

Bystanding is not confined to one-off incidents: whole populations stand by while others suffer or are persecuted.