Today I was walking past a department store when a sudden commotion caught my
attention. A young man was being frogmarched to a waiting police car by two
constables - obviously he was a shoplifter who hadn't been as careful as he
should have been. But what appalled me was that everyone around me - fellow
pedestrians, people in coffee shops, those waiting at the bus stop - were
almost universally smiling and exchanging knowing glances. I've noticed that
reaction countless times in similar situations. But me: I just felt depressed.
Here was a youth, perhaps on his way to prison. His mum and dad and sisters,
his other relatives and his friends would be shocked and saddened by the news
of his arrest. What is there to smile about for God's sake? It's a reaction
I've noticed about other misfortunes. People see drug addicts in the final
stages of degradation and judge these unfortunates as being "losers". I see the
same people and wonder what sexual or physical abuse they suffered as children
- or maybe as adults they encountered some other misfortune, perhaps having to
see a loved one die slowly and painfully of cancer - and think to myself how
lucky I am that I have never had to cope with such trauma. So is Seraphita a
saint? Not bloody likely. I am as selfish, as self-centred, as narrowly
concerned with my own well-being as anyone. The difference seems to be an
ability to enter imaginatively into the suffering of others and appreciate what
a raw deal they had. Of course, some shop-lifters and drug addicts are complete
saddos and probably need a kick up the arse and told to get a grip. But many
will have just been unlucky - and luck plays a dominant role in all our lives.
Imagination is often dismissed as idle fancy but really it is a faculty in
which we grasp real aspects of the world - just like perception and reason. But
perhaps another cause for people to enjoy the misfortunes of others - complete
strangers at that - is that they are unhappy ("The mass of men lead lives of
quiet desperation." - Thoreau) and seeing someone worse off than themselves
gives them a boost. They suddenly see that their own lives could be even more
miserable so for a brief moment they can feel complacently self-satisfied.
Alas - according to Nietzsche - pity is just cruelty disguised. There's a lot
to be said for that view - just observe carefully how your friends and
colleagues savour reports of disasters on the latest news bulletins while
convincing themselves how compassionate they are. So what can we conclude? That
Seraphita is a hypocrite! Heads you win; tails I lose.
