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Show The most serious disease of our society is apathy. The symptoms are a tendency to shoulder shrugging, a decline in mental temperature to the freezing zone so the patient is immobilized in front of the television set, and a predisposition to confusion of priorities. The disease has been called the "Let George do it" syndrome. When untreated, un-treated, the disease has a very poor prognosis and can be terminal for the society. NATIONWIDE, there is a concern on the part of statesmen about the epidemic spread of apathy. Immunization Im-munization is impossible and the disease is insidious in onset so the patient is often thoroughly infected before symptoms become obvious. Effects of the disease include community decay, decline of moral standards, deterioration of the physical appearance of the neighborhood, considerable verbal grousing without any attendant corrective action, graft and corruption in government and a general feeling of uneasiness among the populace. ONE OF the most frequently encountered manifestations manifesta-tions of the disease is a creeping paralysis of all civic muscles with an increase of spewing forth of negative comments such as; "You can't fight city hall," "All politicians are crooked," "Taxes are going to put me in the poor house," and "Why don't they do something about it?" An unusual type of blindness frequently develops. The patient usually has excellent distance vision which enables ena-bles him to discern shortcomings in others, but his visual defect prevents him from seeing anything closer to home. Such an individual may be able to describe in detail actions of diplomats assigned to Moscow or Egypt but he will be unable to name any local officials. SUCH PATIENTS develop an uncanny ability to detect shortcomings in their neighbor's lifestyle, yet cannot see junk accumulating in their own garage and basement. Unfortunately the disease is highly contagious, and is assuming epidemic proportions in most major cities. Smaller cities have shown some immunity, but the disease has been identified in even the smallest rural community and has been documented nationwide. AN EFFORT to combat the disease is being undertaken under-taken by formation of community councils, meetings held by boards of education in neighborhoods, visits by city commissioners to area meetings, even subsidized programs initiated in Washington to invite citizen participation. par-ticipation. The only known cure for the disease is involvement in civic programs. This treatment, when undertaken by the patient, has proved beneficial both to the individual and for the community. Unfortunately, only occasionally is a person infected with apathy, aware he has the disease. DURING AN election year, the disease is most evident. In spite of frequent appeals by candidates for people to assist with campaigns, letters asking for funds, "Get out the vote" movements, mass meetings, conventions and saturation of the news media with political information, . most people will either not go to the polls, or if they do, they are often so ill informed about issues and candidates their vote is actually a liability to a free society. Concern about the disease called apathy is shrinking. As more and more people become afflicted, there is less and less concern about its effects, and in advanced stages, hope is abandoned and civilized society is doomed. THE DISEASE and its attendant symptoms are well known. The cure is individual and strenuous. Governments Govern-ments can't cure it. "George" can't cure it. "They" can't cure it. Only one person has the cure. ME. What am I going to do about it? |