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Diffusion of Responsibility: Our Silent Acquiescence

Hello all,


It's been a long time since I've had anything to write to you about. What's new with you? A lot has changed for me. I've lost my consitutional right of the Fifth Amendment. I've been absent from the internet owing to the PRISM and Tempora surveillance programs, as well as addiction to social media. I watched as white American males conspicuously left the Boston bombings while everyone in the vicinity panicked, only to wonder whether I'd ever hear another word about these shadowy figures. I've sat quietly on the sidelines while more American veterans commit suicide EACH DAY than the amount of deaths at Sandy Hook, and I contemplated the horrors of a decapitated soccer referee in Brazil in order to connect the idea that the Olympics were slated to arrive there and would now almost indubitably be deflected to another country. Things have been, well, come to think of it, dismal.
I'm writing today about the idea of diffusion of responsibility. Everyone say it with me now, "DIF-FU-SION OF RE-SPON-SIB-IL-IT-Y". The idea is this: that if a large enough crowd is witness to an event everyone who watches will inevitably rely on someone else to aid the situation. For example, it has been frequently reported that people being robbed or mugged in large cities are often in the midst of large crowds; however, it is rare that anybody stops such events due to the premise of diffusion of responsibility. A similar phenomena occurs when somebody has a heart attack or seizure in a public place: people panic, and hope someone else acts.
Well, what does this have to do with us? The answer is: EVERYTHING. From the moment I wake up in the morning I begin to plot my own diffusions: from the task of walking my dog all the way to the task of ensuring the future of the planet I--like most others--look to someone else before bearing the burden of MY work. Unfortunately, 29 years later the result of my diffusions is the cosmos that envelops me--and you--every single day.
You may take exception to this standpoint, but let me ask you this: do you wake up in the morning and say to yourself, "Man, I really don't give a fuck about trashing this planet. For all I care it can burn up in flames, so I'm going to contribute to the 367 MILLION gallons of gas burnt in AMERICA TODAY because I'm slightly too lazy to entertain the idea of a carpool or riding my bike"? I doubt it. However, I also doubt if many--if any--of you realized that that means we burn almost 2 billion gallons of gas a WEEK in this country. It doesn't take a genius wizard to figure out that this is completely a unsustainable practice in America, and at this rate the future of our planet looks bleak, at best, BECAUSE OF US.
Fear not, however, because diffusion of responsibility goes much, much farther than that. How many of you watch pornography? How many of you have contemplated that before the mid 90's the ONLY way to get pornographic material meant you had to man-up, and go to a store where you were required to have a face-to-face interaction with another human being admitting to yourself and them all in one that you condoned watching such videos? How many of you at this point still believe pornography isn't wrong? Well, how many of you have cared for a child who was the victim of sex trafficking? Well, I HAVE. And I can tell you from first-hand experience that exposure to any idea--whether sexual, political, ethical, or other--is an automatically normalizing experience, and causes our brain to become more comfortable with the idea. As a result of the accessibility of pornography on the internet an indelible "valley" has been created to smooth over the once rocky terrain of the human psyche where the idea of sex-for-pleasure resides, and as a collective consciousness we have allowed ourselves to normalize this idea to the point that it is estimated that 20% of women IN THE WORLD have been sexually abused. And if you're saying, I haven't done that, you are... DIFFUSING RESPONSIBILITY. Our condoning of pornography on the internet creates its extreme prevalence, and that very prevalence normalizes the hyper-sexualizing of our society to the point that sex crimes are so prevalent.
This note is by no-means closed or ended, nor do I expect that it will be at any point in the near future. The purpose of this note is to ask a question that must be asked, "What do I diffuse responsibility for on a daily basis?" Is it government laws? Is it child care? Is it mental health care? Is it adult health care? By beginning the process of examination on myself I have completely rid myself of the necessity of a car on a daily basis--I have ridden my bike everyday for over two years--, I have quit smoking cigarettes for nearly 2 years, and I have stopped many other behaviors that contribute to the status quo. Am I exonerated from ever doing anything negative to another being again? Absolutely not, which is why I must write this note: each act of awareness helps solidify the positive OR negative choices we make, and today I'm choosing to write this letter as one act of responsibility. Because I owe it to the one or two people who actually read this and make a positive change today as a result. Thank you.


With love,
Joseph Ritrievi Jr. (<---- because I am what I am)