The world today is gripped by a deep illness. Few nations know real peace, and when a country is restless, its people inherit that unrest. Across the globe, corrupt rulers push populations toward conflict, leaving humanity unwell.
A darker affliction – a social sadism – is tightening its grip on us. We have forgotten how to find joy in another’s happiness. Envy has hollowed us out so that even civility is slipping away, and we feel no remorse. We take pleasure in undermining someone else’s achievements. “I rejoice in your joy” has become an empty line.
Social sadism is the pleasure of watching another’s humiliation or downfall, then dressing that malice up as morality. It is not an isolated disorder. When a society begins to enjoy another’s ruin and treats that thrill as duty, it becomes a collective sickness.
In my homeland, Bangladesh, the word “fascist” often serves as a moral cover for this cruelty. A section of society celebrates violence while another, educated and secure, watches in silence. Perhaps this passive witnessing of a society’s decline is itself a terminal illness.
