The Danger of the Three Monkeys

 

Everyone has seen monkeys like the one above: See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. And for the most part this seems like a good set of rules to live by. After all, no one wants to be caught up in the mob mentality of harmful behavior. But what if in some sense these monkeys could also be the symbol of the other mob mentality? That of complacency and turning a blind eye to harmful behavior that needs to be checked? After all, sometimes “evil” could be defined as going against the norm and seeking to promote change that others don’t want or are too ashamed to admit to themselves has been long overdue. I am certain the current political climate is influencing my observation of what has been for most of my life a cutesy symbol. But I am okay with that since if I see evil or hear evil I want to confront it and, above all, I want to prevent myself and others from speaking evil.

Staying Away from the Two Cs

And what are the two Cs you ask? I’m glad you did!

They are: complicit and complacent.

According to Dictionary.com complicit, which is defined as “choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act, especially with others,” was chosen as the Word of the Year. This was largely due to the current divisive political climate, which has raised uncomfortable but important questions about civic responsibility and humanity more broadly.

In a similar vein, a word that has also come up a lot recently in my life and discussions with my friends about the culture at our various jobs is complacent, which Dictionary.com defines as “pleased, especially with oneself or one’s merits, advantages, situation, etc., often without awareness of some potential danger or defect; self-satisfied.”

I truly hope that I haven’t allowed these words to define what my life has been like, particularly being complicit. But over the last year I have been working on addressing my privilege, which in itself is its own form of complicity and complacency. That is one of the main reasons why I want to chance careers, to be able to tackle issues that I am very passionate about that aren’t getting the support they deserve and also because my own office is, while fighting the good fight, is having an extremely hard time getting over its own bureaucratic complacency. And I know that I need to get out more and fight against what I term extremely complicit and dangerous behaviors in politics, whether that is participating in more protests or, probably more in my comfort zone, interacting more with my representatives and local government officials.

This won’t be easy but it is necessary so I am assigning myself not just a resolution but a new way of life. Here’s my written pledge to stick to it and avoid the two Cs!