There are instances in our life wherein we are always encountering issues, especially the negative ones. In the news specifically in the media, we always hear news complaining about the government is not doing its part in improving the lives of the people and also the country's economy. Whenever we had a calamity, flood or any kind of negative event that are affecting the country as a whole, it seems like we are automatically pointing the blame at the government's poor management of the situation. We always used to do this that sometimes I felt that these government officials either become immune to the people's constant blame against them or kept on swallowing the blame since they felt that they have a lot of shortcomings. I am not saying that I am totally pro government, but when you microscope the situation, are they really the ones solely to blame, especially the president?
The Little Things
It is said the reason there are floods is because of poor waste management, cutting down of trees and all other reasons that might have contribute to this. Yes, it's true that maybe the government mismanaged the waste; but it is also true that there are some people who throw trashes at the wrong places, which had the tendency to go to places that are not supposed to be and caused clogging of the drainage system, which if left untreated might cause floods.
In terms of cutting trees, people would say the government approved of the project just to get an income from big corporations that would build residential and commercial lands so that there would be more people to accommodate to. Maybe they had fault in this since they are the ones agreeing or maybe there are corporations whose aim is to maximize profit and only saw what was in front of them and not what would the future look like if they weren't able to account the decisions they made today. Like what was discussed before by Dr. Hal Urban in our office, there is a consequence or a reward for every decision we make.
When a fault of a person cannot be corrected especially if it was still a small one, it can grow bigger and bigger until it would take a herculean effort in order to stop the damage that has been done years ago.
Similar to Bystander Effect?
I am sure that we all see people throwing trash in improper places. Usually I see passengers in the jeepney will just throw their trash inside and outside of the jeepney instead of keeping it or place it in the trash bin of the jeepney (if ever there's one). People who saw the situation would just either shake their head out of dismay or ignore it.
I think this can be associated similar to the Bystander Effect Phenomenon, except this is not for emergency situations. In this case, if somebody would commit throwing trash in improper places, would these people dare to inform this person that he/she is doing the wrong thing? This is the problem, we might be thinking that who are we to tell them, or in some cases it is not our business so why tell them? But then, I know that there are some people who would tell them that they are wrong yet these people would ignore them and keep on walking towards their direction.
Reasons
Everybody should be accountable for this, including myself. But then, what makes us prevent from telling people that they are wrong? Why do these people keep on violating rules despite the law indicating that we are not suppose to do this such as throwing trashes in improper places? Below are my personal reasons why we do not either tell them of their mistakes or what caused them to keep on violating the rules.
Reason 1: "Everybody is doing it."
I certainly agree that one way to learn something is to observe. According to the proponent of Social Learning Theory, Albert Bandura, said that "Most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action."[1] From this theory we can infer that when a child would see that the person who throws trash anywhere get away with it, then he/she will learn that it is okay to do it. So when somebody will scold someone about this, they'll say "Everybody is doing it, why can't I".
Reason 2: Somebody will bail them out
Personally I think the ones who are violating the rules would think that the street cleaners would just clean their mismanagement of mess. Perhaps they are the reason why the flood is not really that much damaging to a certain degree. But then, how sure are we that they could clean everything we threw on the streets in a span of eight hours? Aside from this, what if we threw them in the drainage, would that mean that they have to get the trash in the filthy manhole? I'm sure that even they would not do that since they might be thinking that it is already out of their job description. I also think that these violators knew that somebody perhaps with a obsessive-compulsive tendency will do it that's why they keep on doing it.
Reason 3: Avoid trouble
Usually violators have one thing in common, they are fearless. Fearless in the sense that when you see that what they did was wrong and you dare to tell them, they will just bark at you and tell you that you should mind your own business. I remember I used to tell my classmate when I was in elementary and I got the response such as "Go ahead, tell to the teacher" type. These instances would actually require more people to tell them that they are wrong rather than letting the person be ashamed of what he/she did even if it is the right thing. I also think it depends on who violated it, would you scold someone who is close to you and he/she might not be friends with you anymore if you tell him/her mistakes in front of the people?
Reason 4: Conflict of interest
This is reason why we do not progress as a nation, we usually have these conflict of interest mentality such as telling the person their mistakes would mean a loss of your job or ruin your reputation. That's why some people do not want to interfere because something is at stake and only the brave ones should be admired even if it would mean a loss of their job or lives. Also, there is a thinking of survival in which in order to survive in the society, they should be fearless in being mean or aggressive instead of doing the right thing.
Step Up
They said the more people who go against somebody's action as a group, the more embarrassing it is for the violator and would correct changes. The thing here is why would we always wait for someone to speak out? It's like the bystanders are always playing safe and hoping that there is someone who would speak out on their behalf. Honestly, there are times wherein I used to be the initiator, but other times I just wait for someone to speak out out of my fear based on past experiences.
I used to remember in my fourth year high school wherein our adviser initiated an open forum due to our Physics teacher being upset at us for the reason I forgot. I was called by my adviser to stand up and tell my reason why do I think this is happening. I know during my fourth year high school, I am usually the person that they would be scolded by my classmates in front of the class or privately being laugh at for the reasons that I don't know until I'm being told by my classmate about it. So since I'm pretty sure I'm not at fault for our Physics teacher's anger, I bluntly said that I think the class is not united. I know that most of my classmates have been together for 10 years since it is a star section. but then you will see that you would rather be in a regular section than to be in a star section because of all the lack of sincerity among them and they would belittle people who do not act like them. For one I do not really keep up with them in terms of their lifestyle and way of thinking. After mentioning that, my adviser asked the class who agreed with what I said. To my surprise, people did raise their hand because if not, I'll again be ending up in the laughing stock by these same people who are telling unpleasant things to me. I don't know if it's because there is an authority which made my classmates feel safer to respond an uncomfortable question or they just waited for someone like me to speak out.
To conclude, yes everybody should be accountable on what's happening. At the same time, we should know that people do have unpleasant experiences in speaking out against violations. It is up for the brave souls to do the right thing and by standing up, bystanders will eventually follow. There is still hope that people will change for the better.
Footnote:
[1] Social Learning Theory
When a fault of a person cannot be corrected especially if it was still a small one, it can grow bigger and bigger until it would take a herculean effort in order to stop the damage that has been done years ago.
Similar to Bystander Effect?
I am sure that we all see people throwing trash in improper places. Usually I see passengers in the jeepney will just throw their trash inside and outside of the jeepney instead of keeping it or place it in the trash bin of the jeepney (if ever there's one). People who saw the situation would just either shake their head out of dismay or ignore it.
I think this can be associated similar to the Bystander Effect Phenomenon, except this is not for emergency situations. In this case, if somebody would commit throwing trash in improper places, would these people dare to inform this person that he/she is doing the wrong thing? This is the problem, we might be thinking that who are we to tell them, or in some cases it is not our business so why tell them? But then, I know that there are some people who would tell them that they are wrong yet these people would ignore them and keep on walking towards their direction.
Reasons
Everybody should be accountable for this, including myself. But then, what makes us prevent from telling people that they are wrong? Why do these people keep on violating rules despite the law indicating that we are not suppose to do this such as throwing trashes in improper places? Below are my personal reasons why we do not either tell them of their mistakes or what caused them to keep on violating the rules.
Reason 1: "Everybody is doing it."
I certainly agree that one way to learn something is to observe. According to the proponent of Social Learning Theory, Albert Bandura, said that "Most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others, one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action."[1] From this theory we can infer that when a child would see that the person who throws trash anywhere get away with it, then he/she will learn that it is okay to do it. So when somebody will scold someone about this, they'll say "Everybody is doing it, why can't I".
Reason 2: Somebody will bail them out
Personally I think the ones who are violating the rules would think that the street cleaners would just clean their mismanagement of mess. Perhaps they are the reason why the flood is not really that much damaging to a certain degree. But then, how sure are we that they could clean everything we threw on the streets in a span of eight hours? Aside from this, what if we threw them in the drainage, would that mean that they have to get the trash in the filthy manhole? I'm sure that even they would not do that since they might be thinking that it is already out of their job description. I also think that these violators knew that somebody perhaps with a obsessive-compulsive tendency will do it that's why they keep on doing it.
Reason 3: Avoid trouble
Usually violators have one thing in common, they are fearless. Fearless in the sense that when you see that what they did was wrong and you dare to tell them, they will just bark at you and tell you that you should mind your own business. I remember I used to tell my classmate when I was in elementary and I got the response such as "Go ahead, tell to the teacher" type. These instances would actually require more people to tell them that they are wrong rather than letting the person be ashamed of what he/she did even if it is the right thing. I also think it depends on who violated it, would you scold someone who is close to you and he/she might not be friends with you anymore if you tell him/her mistakes in front of the people?
Reason 4: Conflict of interest
This is reason why we do not progress as a nation, we usually have these conflict of interest mentality such as telling the person their mistakes would mean a loss of your job or ruin your reputation. That's why some people do not want to interfere because something is at stake and only the brave ones should be admired even if it would mean a loss of their job or lives. Also, there is a thinking of survival in which in order to survive in the society, they should be fearless in being mean or aggressive instead of doing the right thing.
Step Up
They said the more people who go against somebody's action as a group, the more embarrassing it is for the violator and would correct changes. The thing here is why would we always wait for someone to speak out? It's like the bystanders are always playing safe and hoping that there is someone who would speak out on their behalf. Honestly, there are times wherein I used to be the initiator, but other times I just wait for someone to speak out out of my fear based on past experiences.
I used to remember in my fourth year high school wherein our adviser initiated an open forum due to our Physics teacher being upset at us for the reason I forgot. I was called by my adviser to stand up and tell my reason why do I think this is happening. I know during my fourth year high school, I am usually the person that they would be scolded by my classmates in front of the class or privately being laugh at for the reasons that I don't know until I'm being told by my classmate about it. So since I'm pretty sure I'm not at fault for our Physics teacher's anger, I bluntly said that I think the class is not united. I know that most of my classmates have been together for 10 years since it is a star section. but then you will see that you would rather be in a regular section than to be in a star section because of all the lack of sincerity among them and they would belittle people who do not act like them. For one I do not really keep up with them in terms of their lifestyle and way of thinking. After mentioning that, my adviser asked the class who agreed with what I said. To my surprise, people did raise their hand because if not, I'll again be ending up in the laughing stock by these same people who are telling unpleasant things to me. I don't know if it's because there is an authority which made my classmates feel safer to respond an uncomfortable question or they just waited for someone like me to speak out.
To conclude, yes everybody should be accountable on what's happening. At the same time, we should know that people do have unpleasant experiences in speaking out against violations. It is up for the brave souls to do the right thing and by standing up, bystanders will eventually follow. There is still hope that people will change for the better.
The Tree
Footnote:
[1] Social Learning Theory
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