Neglect: when others ignore you

Neglect is a social practice that consists of disqualifying another person, through indifference.. He speaks and it’s as if he didn’t say anything. Ask for something and it’s like you don’t need it. In a word, as if it did not exist. That is ignoring: implementing behaviors to make someone understand that they are nobody.

It must be said that ignoring is a form of violence moral or psychological. An expression of cruelty that some people or groups believe they have the right to display. It is very common for the victim of this practice to be someone who is in a fragile condition or who is considered inferior.

Neglect is equivalent to symbolic elimination of someone. It is a way of giving social death. There are many cases in history in which this symbolic murder precedes the physical murder. These types of premises become the justification for specific violence, exercised against specific people or groups.

The levels of no-noing

Disqualification or symbolic elimination does not always have the same degree or the same intensity.. The no-no applies to certain ideas or certain feelings. Also for a person, as a whole. And it reaches a certain social group, as occurs with the different forms of McCarthyization, xenophobia or discrimination.

This is not an involuntary act, in which we overlook someone without intention; on the contrary, involves premeditation to belittle the other. Likewise, this attitude does not always take the form of passive indifference, it is often based on actions deliberately to detract from the other or make them look bad.

An idea is ignored when one says, for example: “What you say is totally wrong.” Or “Thinking like this is a mistake.” Or perhaps: “That way of thinking is stupid.” The question is: who has the authority real to radically disqualify what another thinks? At most, opposing arguments or contrary evidence can be presented. Perhaps expose or describe different ideas, but do not disqualify the other’s.

The same goes for ignoring feelings. “It’s not possible for you to feel that”, “How are you going to be afraid of…” or “You’re crazy if you get upset about….” All of this implies denying the symbolic world of the other. Who would have the right to ask certain emotions to disappear? , certain fears, certain angers, or whatever? Nobody.

The social neglect

These types of practices are also carried out socially or collectively. It does not necessarily imply direct “bullying” or bullying. Enough with indifference , to make the other feel that what they are, does not count. This is what many governments and individuals do., against people in poverty. They are called to vote, but the policies that are implemented do not take them into account at all.

It also happens in the daily life of some cities. They are made so as not to hinder motor vehicle traffic, not to protect the lives of pedestrians.. Therefore, whoever has a car, especially if it is a high-end one, feels that the street is theirs and that they can drive over anything. It is not an exaggeration: more people die in the world from traffic accidents than from any known disease.

The bureaucracy is an expert at ignoring. It happens when you have to do a procedure and they play with your time as if they were doing it for sport. They send you from here to there, they sometimes demand ridiculous requirements from you, they hinder you, etc. All to justify that a function that could be performed by a single person must be performed by 20. It is due to the lack of management, or the exchange of political favors.

Combat ignorance

Neglect creates a seed of violence in those who are its victims. This violence is not diluted: either it ends up returning against the person who originated it, or it turns against the victim himself, making him sick and undermining his well-being. In both cases, sooner or later society will end up paying for the damage.

It is important that at the individual level we develop antibodies to combat ignoring. We must be aware that there are serial niggers and that we are going to run into them at some point. The appropriate thing, then, is not to take the bait and allow them to make us insecure, or make us feel inferior. They are the ones with the problem, not us.

On the social level, there is a call to promote inclusion. No matter how many differences we have with others, everyone has the right to their place in culture.. Nothing forces us to share or accept the ideas, feelings or conditions of others. What we do have is the obligation to respect their right to be as they are, think as they think and feel as they feel. Our well-being depends largely on that mental breadth.

You might be interested…