Yesterday someone sent me a video showing a naked man walking in the middle of a crowded street in Tehran. He shouts and hits himself and it is visible that the poor man is mentally sick. After a while the police comes and takes him into custody.
Now the video is recorded by what seems to be a young man and his friend on a cell phone camera device. So what is most audible in the video is the comments and laughs between these two boys. And that is what made me really upset. They laugh and make fun of the naked retard man, like they are the audience of a comic show, and boast about how this video they're shooting is gonna be a hit on the internet. It was truly so painful to listen to those comments, and i spare you from the experiance. It makes me sad to witness how socially indecent the young generation of my fellow iranians has become. Isn't treating a sick person with compassion part of social codes to be honored in any society, let alone a so called religious one ? Those type of behaviors used to bother me immensely, and God knows that was so frequent in everyday life in iran.
It could as well be that i've lived in academia for the past few years and am only exposed to an above normal environmet, but since i came to US i have not witnessed a single thing like that here. Where is the problem? Why is that we have failed to teach our youngsters the very basic social codes?
Now the video is recorded by what seems to be a young man and his friend on a cell phone camera device. So what is most audible in the video is the comments and laughs between these two boys. And that is what made me really upset. They laugh and make fun of the naked retard man, like they are the audience of a comic show, and boast about how this video they're shooting is gonna be a hit on the internet. It was truly so painful to listen to those comments, and i spare you from the experiance. It makes me sad to witness how socially indecent the young generation of my fellow iranians has become. Isn't treating a sick person with compassion part of social codes to be honored in any society, let alone a so called religious one ? Those type of behaviors used to bother me immensely, and God knows that was so frequent in everyday life in iran.
It could as well be that i've lived in academia for the past few years and am only exposed to an above normal environmet, but since i came to US i have not witnessed a single thing like that here. Where is the problem? Why is that we have failed to teach our youngsters the very basic social codes?
10 comments:
Dearest Jeerjeerak
By the following I am neither making an excuse for a bad behavior of some people nor I am criticizing your view: This is a very important matter for me and I have a special interest on the issue.
First I have a question: Do we know how old they were. I mean the ones who were teasing. I am just curious.
Second of course we all know that different places and cultures have diverse social manners and values. By living here I personally have changed some of my merits: a simple example is that in Iran while dining (eating at a table) it is rude to ask someone to pass other dishes to you or around the table. Since the others are not your slaves, you should take what you want from the other side of the table either by stretching your own hands or by walking around the table. In US the latter is impolite; it is more polite to ask someone to pass you the dish you want. (I saw many times parents correcting their children's behavior in that regard.)
My point here is that we get use to new merits and we get shocked when we look back: Here in US the rights of the minority is definitely more sacred than in Iran: any kind of minority, religious or ethnic. Also people with mental or physical disabilities have more rights in US than in Iran and people are much more careful in their behavior toward them. Now I am asking if we didn't live here would it be still so shocking to see some people teasing a mad man?
I am sure we would never support the teasing behavior but it would be less shocking for us to see some young people who did not know better are happily filming an ill man for YouTube.
Tameshk janam,
Thanks alot for taking the time and leaving me your opinion. I much appreciate it.
No, i don't know how old are those guys, but carrying a cellphone i guess they should be at least in their older teens. I had seen such behaviors from adults in Iran too, and in many many occasions. but you're right i'm generalizing based on a single observation , and that is not correct.
I do agree that the social merits are different among different cultures. But i suppose that treating well the ill is something that is pretty much in line with ours.
You mentioned "parents correcting their children's behaviors" in US. I think that is THE element that we miss.
سلام جیرجیرک.هردویتان درست می گویید.متاسفانه مسخرگی و تمسخر جزئی ناپسند از عادات ماست.زشت تر از آن خندیدن به عیوب دیگران است.اینگونه عادات به تدریج ایجاد شده و دیرپا هستند و برای زدودنشان باید همین مسیر طی شود.مشکل ما ندانستن نیست بلکه عمل نکردن ماست.تربیت صحیح از خانواده باید آغاز شود و در مدرسه و محل کار ادامه یابد.
بر ذیده من خندی کاینجا زچه می گرید
خندند بر آن دیده کاینجا نشود گریان.
دقیق و موشکاف باشی همیشه
OK! Today I came here may be 4 times to post my comment but every time something happened. I am going to post this comment before working on my post.
In philosophy there is a debate between Ethics and Morals (see: http://www.scribblers-ink.com/professional_ethics.html ). Other sociologists like Lawrence Kohlberg developed moral stages ( http://faculty.plts.edu/gpence/html/kohlberg.htm ; Farsi: http://www.aftab.ir/social/psychbiology/base/psychological/growth_cognitive_kohlberg.php ) which are in the same line.
I am not going to restrict the discussion in the words, but I’d like to focus on the meanings. What Tameshk addressed as merits or social merits are very close to what philosophers have called “moral” that can be changed from society to society. Sometimes I discuss about these values with Americans, not to say I am right but to have them think more and to be open-minded. Not every thing that parents say are correct; otherwise, we would miss rational thinking.
Ethics are the values that must be thought and discussed. These are the values that construct the Civilization as Will Durant has said. Most of the values are rights that some Americans are just afraid to breach them.
While I was watching the clip couple of weeks ago, I was just expecting someone to come and help him. Just having fun is not bad; we all enjoy having fun but he was not a clown!
TO ME it is not ethical to distribute a part of a person’s life without getting his permission. It was not ethical not because the man was naked but because they enjoyed humiliation which is against civilization. People even did not “care” about the man, except for a cop who arrested him!
I saw this video too, and I had same feeling. you know, that kind of laughing was disgusting, unfortunately these days there is not any serious thing or any kind of sympathy in our country , the only thing that I can call it , It is a great catastrophe, nothing else
bayram
I guess I have seen that video, but I thought the guy who was filmed was neither retard nor ill, he was high! I don't mind laughing at a guy who has DECIDED and CHOSEN to get high
I guess code of ethics differs from society to society, and from time to time, and we should not judge the other countries by American standards(unless we believe that morals are something from god himself. similar to what religion believes)
and it is okay to laugh at each other :). and seriously if you believe that the guy was disabled , you should not use a derogatory word "Retard" to explain his situation thats not really politically correct. (its okay with me though)
I don't mind being laughed at or laughing at other people's idiocy.
I have to confess I see your concern though and I appreciate it. I'll be following the discussion here it sounds interesting.
PS: I just read tameshk's note and I kind of agree. I'm even beginning to believe that our prophet (PBUH) getting married to a 9 years old kid was morally okay.
and you need to watch south park a little more :)
peace
Jeerjeerak Jan;
In fact as you know, there are multiple layers to any social phenomenon. Many roots, causes, and environmental factors impact the how and why of social behavior. Those boys (?) have acted irresponsibly to videotape, comment carassly, and mock the plight of another young man while he was having a nervous breakdown, a seizure, or even as Siah suggests, a drug high. There are no excuses for poor behavior. I don't believe those boys' behavior to be "regional," though, as Tameshk suggests; I am from that region and lived there most of my life, and I don't know of very many Iranians who would laugh at someone who is going through a nervous breakdown. Don't forget the shock factor in seeing a naked man in bright daylight on the Islamic Republic's streets.
In recent years, American television has also witnessed video footage of some American soldiers talking and laughing about Iraqi's injuries and deaths. Some went so far as to torture some prisoners, humiliate and degrade them, and then take photos with them (aks-e-yadegari), crimes for which they were tried later. There was no excuse for that behavior, either.
I just want to say that the behavior you saw, however, has little to do with manners. I believe it doesn't have anything to do with those boys' upbringing, either. I believe "social disconnet," is not so much a product of family values and upbringing, than it is a product of young people feeling mistreated, disrespected, or disadvantaged somehow. It is a reaction to something those young people can't deal with or change directly, so they take the route of apathy, mockery, and sometimes violence. That's what I think.
Sooooooooo, the poetic Jeerjeerak posts such a serious blog on Shab-e-Yalda and this makes it hard for me to wish you a Happy Yalda on this dark, long, and cold night, which I hope is warm and bright with the fires of love and friendship and understanding in your beautiful heart. Happy Yalda azizam.
May I conclude the discussion here? :)
Nazy Jan had already made a really good conclusion here. But here's mine if you insist;)
I can't agree more with Masoud that if we want to change this kind of behavior we need to start from families and schools. Unfortunately our schools don't at all put emphasize on teaching social manner to the kids. That is one thing that needs to be changed. In My opinion one way to get out of many disorders in Iran, is a reform in primary education system.
Babak has a good point here too, filming such an incident and spreading it around is not ethical either. In that sense i'm sorry that i watched it. And I'm sorry i used the word retard, put it on the account of my deficiency in English as a second language.
Siah, even if is it this man's own fault to have ended up in this situation, still it doesn't justify us laughing at "his idiocy". Or at least we have to wait till he is in a sound state of mind to understand and defend himself to do so.
I leave the tribune to you Siah Jan:)
my casual observation is that the lower class in the US show very similar behaviors,
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