Neutral Men are the Devil’s Allies

PART I- The myth of Moral Neutrality 

I have never been to Switzerland, and I know very little about Swiss culture other than they make peng chocolate if I am completely honest with you. But I have heard the phrase “being Switzerland” before, on many occasions.

According to the urban dictionary’s top definition:

“to be Switzerland” means to be neutral in an argument or a discussion. A term essentially coined from Switzerland’s neutrality in World War I.

Basically, in the first world war, Switzerland signed a declaration that allowed armed neutrality. Therefore, the country refused to take sides militarily, but a Swiss army could be established for defensive, retaliation purposes.

I’m not history gal (so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong), but this seemed to work out great for Switzerland at the time as they were not invaded by neighbouring countries, and they could also provide a safe haven for refugees.

But there is something about the concept of neutrality that doesn’t sit right with my spirit.

Particularly when I feel that there is a distinct difference between the right and the wrong party.

I’m sure we can all agree that it is morally wrong to be on the “wrong side of a war” but is it not just as morally questionable to not support “the right side of a war”?

Okay, I don’t even want to act like I know anything about World War I (the British education system failed me terribly in the history department), so let’s talk about something more arbitrary:

Let’s say you come across 2 different parents whilst in public. This could be anywhere your imagination takes you: Asda, the beach, a bus ride, I will let you have the joy of deciding.

Now, let’s say these 2 parents have different methods of raising their respective 4-year-old children

Parent 1: Behaves socially inappropriately and rewards anti-social behaviour (biting, punching, shouting, hitting, spitting, swearing, etc.), whilst discouraging positive behaviours (sharing, respect, honesty, etc.)

Parent 2: Behaves in a socially appropriate way, and rewards positive behaviours whilst discouraging anti-social behaviours

So on this one outing, you encounter both parents, so you definitely have an idea of what is right and what is wrong if you didn’t already; and for argument's sake, you encounter parent 2 and their child first before you encounter parent 1 and their child.

So, are you gonna tell me that you’re just going to watch a parent behave in a morally wrong manner, especially when a vulnerable and influential child is involved? [For my clever little psychology gang, you’ll clock that I tweaked Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment, to come up with this ethical dilemma].

Some of you might be sat there like “it’s not my child so it’s not my problem”- First of all, you have a questionable moral compass, but that aside, I pose you a much simpler dilemma:

Okay, how about this, you witness an attempted kidnapping while a child’s parent is focusing on talking to a member of staff in a supermarket.

Do you,

a)      Try to prevent the kidnapping from taking place, or alert others etc?

b)     Let the kidnapper take the child because you revel in evil wrongdoings?

c)      Let the kidnapper take the child because you’re not tryna get involved and you want to stay neutral?

As you may notice, both options B and C seem very similar. Why you may be wondering? Because in a situation where there is a right and wrong answer, moral neutrality is a myth!!

I honestly want to scream it from the mountain tops!

So, let’s get a little less arbitrary… let’s get a little more personal.

You see your friend harassing a woman who is rejecting their advances when you go out for drinks:

Do you,

a)      Intervene because the woman clearly appears uncomfortable and unsafe?

b)     Allow your friend to harass the woman because you revel in evil wrongdoings?

c)      Allow your friend to harass the woman because you don’t want to get involved?

👀👀👀

How about, you witness a black man getting pulled over by the police, and despite his willingness to comply with the authorities he is treated with force:

Do you,

a)      Try to intervene safely in whatever way possible?

b)      Watch a man struggle for his life and use his remaining breaths to cry for help, as he dies at the hands of a broken system, because you revel in evil wrongdoings?

c)      Watch a man struggle for his life and use his remaining breaths to cry for help, as he dies at the hands of a broken system, because you don’t want to get involved?

I’d love to say my last couple scenarios are a gross exaggeration, but in actuality, it’s less of a hypothetical and more a disgraceful reality.

Though, EXTREME, it is EXTREME-ly relevant.

I actually reeeeaaally want to know, for my mental health, that when my black brothers and sisters, my black uncles and aunts, my black Godson, decide to go out and live day to day life… who is not gonna want to get involved in the face of injustice?

Who around me is gonna be ‘Switzerland’ if my face is ever pushed down on the pavement, or if I decide to jog around my neighbourhood while Black.

Who is gonna be ‘Switzerland’ when I’m trying to outrun the man who has been touching me in a way that makes me feel uncomfortable, and is now following me on my route home?

Okay, I’m gonna leave Switzerland alone now, maybe we should come up with new terminology, that means the same thing?

I’m rooting for “The devil’s Ally”, what do you think?

PART II- Moral Responsibility

There is a show called “What Would You Do?” that I used to binge-watch in my first year of college when I first had the opportunity to study psychology (in retrospect I should have studied sociology instead of math, but we move).

I used to watch clips of it on YouTube, and I’ll include a little link if you want to go check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwdo8-3UrfZ9scHPl0m4Ysg

I was never really a crier, but this show would have me teary-eyed every single time. It just proves that humanity does in fact exist- the world is not all doom and gloom.

In my opinion, this show perfectly debunks the myth of moral neutrality. Each episode is a different social experiment. They would face the general public with an undoubtedly morally wrong scenario to see how people would respond.

From watching a lot of WWYD episodes, I will tell you now; all the individuals who do not challenge the morally wrong event, are riddled with guilt and awkwardly give excuses as to why they did not DO THE RIGHT THING.

This is because, whether you like it or not, most people innately have a moral compass that acknowledges a degree of moral responsibility in most situations.

And therefore, whether you like it or not, you kind of know that by ignoring injustices, you are doing something immoral.

I went on a super long rant about moral responsibility on my personal Instagram @IAMLENGA.PRIV, so you may have already seen it. I do think that it’s a good watch, and I received a lot of positive feedback from people that thought it explained the concept of moral and social responsibility clearly. (The video discusses the black lives matter movement specifically, but the bottom line is consistent for all social injustices).

You can check it out there, but alternatively, you can watch it below:

To tie everything up in a neat little bow, I really think Edwin Hubbell Chapin put it best when he said that “neutral men are the devil’s allies” 🤷… Stand up for what is right, don’t sit in the silence of evil!

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Thank you so much for reading this blog post! I am back after essentially a year-long hiatus, but I promise I am back for good and I have big plans up my sleeves. Like always, I hope you’ve taken something from this, (even if it’s just that Swiss Chocolate tastes real good).

But ultimately, I just want you to know what I know, you know!

 

Signed,

IAMLENGA

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*Alongside my own opinions, this post and the points made within it were inspired by a range of literature that you may want to check out if you found this to be an interesting read:


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