I Don't Care

Merril and I went to a number of places during the day yesterday, and I heard what is a common expression that got my attention like never before.
“I don’t care.”  To me that sounds simple enough and harmless – but I reckon it is anything but harmless.  It made me think “that really is one of the reasons things have gone downhill in the world.”
That sounds pretty dramatic but the reason why I think that has to do with another common saying.  I paraphrase it.  “The way for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
It seems to me one of the markers of our age is for many with unconventional thoughts to speak very loudly and get their way.  It also seems common for many, often a majority, not to agree with what is being promoted, but to do nothing.
The upshot is mankind has gotten a world of violence and lack of care about the consequences for others, because good men did nothing.   “I don’t care” may not have been stated, but it has been enacted.  I know I have taken refuge in knowing I could vote in what I liked.  Except it is becoming more and more obvious to me that the noose is tightening, and that that option appears to be on the way out worldwide.  Regimes in power are declaring what people can think, eliminating opposition and punishing non-conformers.
One “I don’t care” alone is seemingly inconsequential, but to me mass apathy is leading to mass repression.
So often it seems that when someone declares “I don’t care” they really do care.  But it is an “I don’t care” meaning I really do care, but not enough to do anything.  Hence a mass “do nothing” has meant a hijacking of causes by those who think the opposite to what may be the views of the inert majority.
As I say, it sounds dramatic, but the consequence is personal to the level of “what can I do?”  Change to me is wrought one at a time, and right now I am the one.