Collective reaction to Japan’s earthquake and tsunami worries me. And so far, that reaction has largely been a heaping helping of apathy. Plainly put, it’s unacceptable.
It’s not that we don’t have human empathy, but how the media portrays catastrophe tends to shape our ability to act. And after a while, it gets tiring to feel compelled to act or even to feel compassionate when confronted with disaster.
On one hand, we’re constantly bombarded with images of devastation to the point where we feel sad and powerless. Ever see those commercials for the ASPCA featuring video montages of abused animals to the tune of “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan? They run constantly. A close friend of mine always cries when they air, and we’re forced to switch the channel. To this day, she’s given all her love to her dogs, and the commercials inspire her to be a better dog owner, but she hasn’t given one red penny to the ASPCA. The commercials tug at her heartstrings a little too much, but they otherwise offer her no inspiration to act.
On the other hand, we falsely assume for whatever reason that situations will work themselves out without our help. According to reports, public perception of the devastation was that Japan is a more industrialized nation and thus has the resources to handle relief efforts more independently. Yet information we receive about the disaster’s impact, including the death toll, large damage to infrastructure and especially the precarious nuclear situation, continues to worsen as time goes on.
Both of these quandaries have one thing in common: The lack of inspiration to help gives way to apathy.
Contributions to Japan relief efforts so far have been disappointing to say the least, especially when held alongside similar catastrophes. Only $87 million was donate to non-profit organizations in the first week following the earthquake and tsunami. In contrast, public response one week after the Haiti earthquake and Hurricane Katrina reached $275 and $514 million, respectively. This is not to compare one disaster to another, but those numbers speak to a larger trend.
A report from CNN indicated that the first seven days are crucial to mobilizing public response after a disaster. After the first week, momentum gets lost and people eventually tune out. If the first seven days of donations are any indication, those invested in rallying public support have a steep challenge ahead of them.
That information can help us understand why student leaders like ASG Vice President Hiro Kawashima and others were not pleased that it took a full week before President Schapiro issued a statement to the Northwestern community. But by that time, had most people in the Northwestern community already tuned out? We were already in the thick of Reading Week, so there was a lot on our minds. But if Northwestern’s public relations machine – ever so quick to respond to controversy – couldn’t get a statement released until a week elapsed, the answer to the question of whether or not we had tuned out is, unfortunately, yes.
It’s important that we support the Japanese community here at Northwestern and abroad during this difficult time. Don’t allow the propensity for apathy to overcome your sense of human compassion. Help in relief efforts however much you can and turn your sadness, anger or empathy around this tragedy into substantive action.
Derrick Clifton is a Communication junior. He can be reached at [email protected].
