# 196: Watching
Story behind the Passage
This quote is from Carolin Emcke’s book on “witnessing.” Schalamow was a Russian dissident. Unfortunately, we seem to have lost our own dissidents. People are not even noticing anymore that they are saying “yes” to anything. And not taking action is the same as saying yes in many cases — at least for me. There are many mistakes I made in the past, just like any human being. But there is one mistake that I never made because something inside always stopped me: giving up my freedom to think and the power to act according to my own volition. This is a radical way of living life but it is the only one worth living — at least for those who decide to not just watch.
My Learnings
How can a society get to this point,
Where people are watching,
Instead of acting.
Where they are thinking,
Instead of helping.
We have no culture of mourning.
We have no culture of compassion.
We have a culture that lives in the brain.
We have a culture that that strives for PhDs.
We have a culture in which money is the dividing line.
I would send every fucking bureaucrat to intensive care.
I would like to them see people dying.
I would like our professors to spend a week running a business.
I would like our politicians to bury their egos.
I would like our students to become louder and braver.
Watching has become our favorite skill.
Watching is nice and convenient.
Watching is done at a distance.
Watching has this reputation of leading to insights.
Watching can be done without getting your hands dirty.
If there is one thing that I can teach people,
It is how to turn their brain into action,
How to not let others stop them from seeing the truth.
The thing that they need for this is not a PhD,
The thing that they need is empowerment and love.
Watch out for the young ones rebelling.
Watch out for the brave ones acting.
Watch out for your own reflection in the mirror.
If you do not recognize it anymore,
It is time to act.
Reflection Questions
1) When did you last act spontaneously and without thinking twice to help someone?
2) Where is your country located on the thinking/doing spectrum? How do you explain this?
3) Imagine everyone in your company/workplace earned the same money, no matter which level of education or position he/she has — how would this change your organization?