WHERE ARE THE GOOD MEN?

Let me start with a quotation from Bess Myerson, a columnist in New York: "The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference."¹ Apathy, fence sitting, indifference indeed strengthens evil. Apathy is a very common occurrence, it is everywhere and it happens all the time. Let us just take a leisurely walk along Mönckebergstrasse on a normal business day. A thief snatches an old woman’s handbag; the old woman holds onto it like dear life. The snatcher takes a hard swing with his other fist and forces the old woman down, who loses her balance and her hold on her handbag. Meanwhile, everyone else just stares with uncaring mien while some even look away. Of course, I am quite confident someone will, after the initial shock, go to the aid of the old lady. However, when and if no one does anything – that is apathy. Our indifference to the crime makes us as accomplices.

Nearer to home, to our organization, to our Order, the same can be true. Apathy, as in many cases, may not be easily detectable. It can escape attention and interest. This can happen with the lack of information about an important matter, the remoteness of a subject of contention, or even inadvertence and simple indifference. Whatever it might be – they all fall under apathy. It is my belief that we cannot be an island in an ocean of Knights of Rizal, of the European Knights, of the international knighthood. We should not have joined the Order if we only think that the only order of the day is what we have been used to: having grill parties, inducting officers and new members; or raising funds for some good purpose. Please do not think that I am proposing that we should now rid ourselves of these activities. No, we should not – I myself enjoy very many such activities and we shall continue to do the same in the same vigour and intensity.

However, in indulging ourselves in such activities we must also consider that it is not enough for one to be called truly a Rizalian, if we do not look beyond our borders, beyond the chapter. We cannot isolate ourselves and be content that whatever happens outside our chapter is not our business. Let me digress for a moment. In the years before the two world wars, America had a policy of isolationism. The American public was not interested in the genocide and devastation raging outside its borders. If you know your history, it eventually had to get involved. Although it is not easy to make a similarity, we as members, using the words of Sir Manny Bade of the Scarborough chapter in Canada, of a "pre-eminent organization," we should get involved in any matter of importance affecting the Order.

You might ask me, "What is Rizalian in looking beyond our borders?" I am wont to ignore such a question but I will not. I will answer it. Rizal’s insatiate interest in the cultures of other peoples, of other nations; his travels and his studies were all for the benefit of his beloved country. The least we can do, as true Rizalians, is to be concerned with any matter that involves the Order, not only within the chapter but also beyond – with other chapters, with the regional and the international scene. We cannot claim to be knights of Rizal if we are adamantly isolationists. We cannot escape the globalization of the Order, too. We must realize and accept that apathy has no place in our Order.

Sir Dennis Barcelona, KR

Hamburg Chapter

¹ Bess Myerson (b. 1924), U.S. government official, columnist. Quoted in: Claire Safran, "Impeachment?" (published in Redbook, New York, April 1974).

Editor's Note: Thanks to the courtesy of the Knights of Rizal (http://www.knightsofrizal.de/)