Have We 'Lost Our Moral Compass'?
Jun 05., 2008 
13 Comments
If a 78-year-old man was lying in the middle of a busy street, bleeding and unmoving as a result of a hit-and-run, what would you do?
Would you call 911?
Would you try talking to the man to see if he was conscious?
Would you administer basic first aid, such as applying pressure to wounds?
Would you try to divert traffic?
Want to know what people in Hardford, Connecticut did? They walked past him and stared. People in cars kept driving by. A man on a scooter circled “…the victim before zipping away.”
This entire scene was caught on tape by a streetlight surveillance camera and Hartford Police Chief Daryl Roberts says “We no longer have a moral compass” and that “we have no regard for each other.”
A 78-year-old man is tossed like a rag doll by a hit-and-run driver and lies motionless on a busy city street as car after car goes by. Pedestrians gawk but appear to do nothing. One driver stops briefly but then pulls back into traffic. A man on a scooter slowly circles the victim before zipping away.
The chilling scene — captured on video by a streetlight surveillance camera — has touched off a round of soul-searching in Hartford, with the capital city’s biggest newspaper blaring “SO INHUMANE” on the front page and the police chief lamenting: “We no longer have a moral compass.
Source: CNN
One of the best life lessons my dad ever taught me was that we all need to help each other. Many times my dad would make us late for family gatherings, church or school because he felt compelled to help people who clearly needed a good samaritan. I recall a couple of times he offered to help a homeless man, on separate occasions, who looked like he was injured. When my dad offered assistance the man threatened to show my dad his “butcher knife up close.” In spite of this, my father never got sour when it came to helping people. When I was growing up we would always pull the car over and both help push stranded motorists off to the side of the road.
A couple of weeks ago, on the way to work one morning, we stopped so I could help a man push his truck out of the street. When I got back in the car, my daughter asked me if I knew the man. When I told her I didn’t she asked why I helped him. I told her, “Because it was the right thing to do.” She seemed to understand and I know that it will be one of those things we must teach our children when we lead by example.
That is a very important — and incredibly basic — part of being human, I think. We all need help at times and it’s extremely disturbing to have such a blatant example that in the 21st century we seem to care less about the person next to us than ever before.
So, I ask you, have we lost our moral compass?
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Great post Daniel! It sounds like you are teaching your daughter some extremely valuable principles about life, charity, servitude and morality. It amazes me that people know what the right thing to do is yet, too often, fail to act upon it. I am always impressed though when I do see people take action to help their fellow man, and it inspires me to do it too. Your post has inspired me to ensure my eyes are open to opportunities to help. Thanks!
My wish is that this post could be printed on the front page of every newspaper in the country. I believe you’ve touched on the core of it: this world has abandoned its moral compass and is now wandering around aimlessly. Do keep teaching your kids what the right thing to do is. Hopefully the news will spread.
God – this has nothing to do with moral compass. What the heck are you suppose to do. Walking down the street, you think these people had medical equipment to save his life.
People did stop, tried to figure out what they could do to help. People were desperate to help – but have no training, no idea what to do to not cause more damage. Multiple people called 911 within 60 seconds. What the heck do you expect people to do? Not knowing what to do is not callousness.
It’s a shame that one of these people wasn’t a doctor that could have helped, but me walking down the street with no medical training at all – the world is better if I dont start playing doctor trying to save your life – and you know those people crying out the loudest would be the first to sue. The cops (trained and experts at handling emergencies) were there in 90 seconds – the system works as it should. You think someone should have stopped and thrown him in a car and driven to the hospital – that would be a dumb dumb thing to do.
The media should stop dramatizing and villifying the world. People are good. Shut up and stop telling us about how bad everything is.
But also, the hit-and-run scum bags should rot in jail for the rest of their lives. Nobody seems to be angry at them?
@ Anon: The article does mention that there is still confusion about whether or not people did call 911 about that incident or not. The article also says that an officer, on an unrelated call, was the one that arrived on the scene.
The issue at hand, though, is that people didn’t merely stop and make sure the man was okay. They kept going about their day.
The very nature of the incident was a car vs. pedestrian hit-and-run.
I don’t fault someone for not having sophisticated medical training. Lack of medical training does not, however, explain why nobody could have helped divert traffic. Obviously the man was still in the road far enough if someone on a scooter could drive in circles around him.
I mean really, who in the United States does not know that when someone is bleeding, you apply pressure to the wound? Enough people were caught on tape in the area, which no doubt had enough items that could have been used to apply pressure to the wounds and yet shield someone from direct contact with the man’s blood as diseases are an obvious concern.
Also, there is a demand to punish the driver of the car that struck the man, since the video was released to try and lead to an arrest.
It is important to reach out and help people in need, but in this case (and many such cases), the fact that some people do not has nothing to do with degrading morals. It’s due to the well-known Bystander Effect
Basically, the more people there are around when something bad happens, the less each individual person feels the responsibility for action. Each thinks that someone else will do something.
The reason that this problem appears to be worsening is not that people are becoming more callous, it’s that population densities are rising. Even a hundred years ago, people were much less likely to live in cities, among strangers. They were likely to be with close friends or family, or other people they knew personally. In those cases, there are clearly-defined responsibility relationships, so everyone knew who would act in a crisis.
FWIW, I’ve personally been in a few situations where someone was injured and in need of assistance. And, every time, many people reacted quickly, and tried to help as best they could. One time I was the closest, and in seconds, other people were there helping. Other times I’ve stopped and called 911 to find that dozens of people had already called in.
I’m outraged at all of this apathy! Did no-one think to look through his pockets for change? Car keys? Tic-tacs?
A topic like this has been running around in my head. I am so afraid of so many things now, that if I was a bird flapping on the side of the road, I would probably not help it because of west nile virus or some other “unknown” disease.
One of the most shocking things I heard when I moved to the U.S. as a teenager from a family member was…
“If you see an older person fall while walking, DO NOT help them up. In this country, that person could sue you and go as far as to say you actually pushed them down.”
That little quote stayed with me to this day… it saddens me that we have that as our set of values, because when I have checked with other people they have pretty much agreed with the quote.
I also still stop and help people when I think it is both safe and needed. I saw a guy changing a tire not too long ago and knew he had no clue, so I helped him out despite being without supper and cold outside. I think it is important to help human being.
As far as not being trained… I think people need to go to the scouts, or just make it a requirement for someone graduating from high school to have a first aid class. We should all know what to do when someone is bleeding.
Great post, and to answer your original question and I think that we lost our moral compass the moment we became a nation of excuses… anon is a perfect example.
I was so disgusted when I saw this on the news this morning! As Daniel’s older sister I can also remember several times growing up and watching our dad do the unthinkable..reach out to others with love and compassion!
When I was about 13 I would go to the Rescue Mission with my dad. I would also accompany him to rest homes where he would visit with elderly people whose families had all but forgotten them. I can remember my dad taking in a homeless man and his young son. My dad reached out to people too many times to count. Daniel and I are so blessed to have grown up with such an amazing example of compassion.
And to Anonymous who wrote, ” What the heck do you expect people to do? Not knowing what to do is not callousness.”
Not knowing what to do is not callousness. However, has society forgotten the very human act of simply holding someone’s hand? I can’t imagine leaving anyone alone in the street bleeding and not even attempting to hold their hand. Does Anonymous really think that compassion requires a medical degree or medical equipment? There is no amount of training or schooling that can teach you compassion and humanity!
This is absolute nonsense. It has nothing to do with morality. If I didn’t stop to help someone in the street it would be either because I thought somebody else would take care of it (very likely in this situation where there are a lot of people) or out of fear of what I was getting involved in.
While I cannot say if this thought crossed the mind of anyone involved, but the fear of litigation can give people pause to getting involved in a situation. Attempting to be a good samaritan does not always go unpunished.
With that said, I agree that it is frightening to see people move right past someone in need. I’ve been guilty of it myself, although I usually make an effort to stop and help people – whether it be pushing a car out of the road, helping change a tire, or just asking if they need to call anyone.
It sounds like you had a terrific role model in that regard and are now doing the same for your children. Keep up the great work and you will see that your children grow up to be the same type of helpful adults.
I think it’s all due to the mass brain washing we have endured as a society. We’re all paranoid that we may be victimized if we help. This is accomplished by the media in movies and especially the news. It’s not some plot or anything it’s just what we have chosen to focus on. I once helped some folks that were broken down on the side of the road and had thoughts of them robbing me as I drove them to their home. It was just an instance but I realized that I was suffering from a paranoia that wasn’t real. I think we have to use caution but not keep us from doing what is right. Stop being sheep, realize that compassion and selflessness is the most important trait we can have for fellow beings.
Perhaps if people didn’t feel so threatened by the thought of having everything they own sued out from under them for trying to help someone, they’d be more willing to lend a hand. But with the current judicial system allowing people to be sued for ungodly amounts of dollars in damages for trying to be a good samaritan, it’s no wonder people avoid getting involved.
we all have our morals in there somewhere, but our current problem is that we are not acting upon them. We do what makes us comfortable, and sometimes acting upon our inner morals takes us out of that comfort zone. But it seems like you have a really great correspondence of your morals and your actions, so way to go! i’m in 9th grade, and for our World Geography final exam, my partner and i were given the question, “what do you think the biggest obstacle is to living a just and sustainable life?” our answer is a lack of acting upon our morals. thanks for this post, it was really helpful!