Bullying and the Italians

But first a word from the Jungians.....
Kind of ironic the last blog was about bullying before Google lost its lawsuit in Italy over a case of video harassment.
The story as it appears in this evening's Toronto Star:

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/770667--google-execs-convicted-in-italian-bullying-video-case?bn=1

This article and the event in Italy depict what is truly wrong with the character of individuals today. 10 people watched this teenage boy be assaulted by four other boys and did nothing; in a sense, they were an audience. Chris Hedges has written a great book called "Empire of Illusion." Its thematic concerns revolve around how exposure to constant violence and sex changes the character of individuals; for example, the film "The Hurt Locker" illustrates what happens to soldiers who become addicted to war. One could argue, in the case of Google and the Italian bullying episode, that the audience was completely lacking in empathy to the child being assaulted. The crowd did nothing to stop the incident and Google, by its own failure to recognize the assault, added another layer of tacit complicity. To be fair to Google, it would be very difficult to imagine how they could have prevented the further humiliation of the child but it is also curious why a machine, the size of Google with the mathematics involved in its mechanics, wouldn't already have some algorithm established to prevent such an event. Be that as it may, the reality is bullying of any nature grows in strength on the silent participation of the audience. If one cannot stop an event, one can, at the very least, walk away.