Violence

A taxi driver, Mido Macia, in Johannesburg, SA, was beaten by police and dragged behind a police van. He eventually died. He had violated a parking restriction. The arrest was filmed by a bystander.

Power can corrupt. Violence can also corrupt. These were not white racist police. They were wearing uniforms and carrying guns. Johannesburg has been rated one of the most dangerous cities on the planet. Gun violence is rife.

The large crowd did not intervene on behalf of the taxi driver. They watched. They groaned. At least one of them filmed. Perhaps this person was the most courageous bystander in the crowd. I can imagine the risk of documenting this scene in a violent and corrupt society.

As a secular humanist, I see a crowd of people who are conditioned to fear authority to the point of no compassionate action on behalf of a victimized peer. I see a crowd of people who have been made less human by the violence around them. This is very sad to see.

Government and religion have often deprived people of their humanity as separate institutions and in collusion with each other. These incidents of inhumane treatment and the equally inhumane inaction of bystanders are symptoms of the rule of violence in a society. Ignorance, poverty and overpopulation combine to make this level of inhumanity more likely.