A STATE OF GRACE

Years ago I and a bunch of mates, all nurses at Kaitaia hospital, were on a night out in Awanui hotel. The large crowd there that night included a small number of out of town gang members – some with local connections, including a cousin of mine. The general mood was sweet.

I’m not sure when that changed, and I have never known what triggered the change, but at some point we heard something was going down outside – so out we went too. There we saw three gangers, including my cousin, punching and booting the publican who was on the ground whimpering. And dozens of locals, men we’d grown up with and knew to be tough sorts, were standing watching it happen.

Without a word we crossed the street, pushed the gangers away, picked the publican up, and helped him back inside past all our local tough guys. Someone called the cops and ambos, while we cleaned the guy up, comforted his distraught wife and berated the few remaining locals. In our eyes their inaction was a disgrace and they knew it. With heads down, none of them could answer our repeated and distressed question, “Why didn’t you stop it?”

Now, years later, and with the perspective of time and experience, I think the answer to their inaction boils down to five basic failings of humanity. Some of them were uncertain (was this a stoush between family, or had the publican started it?), some of them were afraid (they might get a hiding too, or might hurt someone else for the wrong reason), some were weighing up where their best interests lay (a grateful publican later, versus a violent ganger now), some were just too plain drunk to care, and others were a bit of all those things.

Thus it ever has been. When a bad thing unfolds in front of our eyes and we do nothing, it can generally be put down to uncertainty, fear, self-interest, incapacity or callousness.

When the Crown takes money through iniquitous taxes like GST on food – is it uncertainty of what to do that stops you acting? When politicians legislate to allow 10% rises for themselves, while others are legally screwed down to less than 2% – is it self-interest that gags you from speaking out? When government officials intimidate and threaten the very people they are supposed to help – is it fear that freezes you? When the Crown steals land from Maori – is it that you just don’t care?

I pick on the Crown because its government controls most of the institutions and powers of State in the country – police, army, courts, schools, media and infrastructure – and because it’s lead by powerful people who answer to even more powerful people, who are not you and me, and who do not have our interests at heart.

Division is a terrible thing; rich against poor, men against women, young against old, and race against race – yuck! But division amongst us does serve the interests of the powerful because it keeps our eyes off what they are doing and who they are serving.

So here’s the challenge. Can we overcome and master any uncertainty, fear, self-interest, incapacity and callousness in ourselves? Can we get to the point where we ignore the symptoms of that in others and keep our eyes on the real danger? Can we act with grace under fire?

As for those who beat up the Awanui publican all those years ago and those who didn’t move to help – their failing was not one of gender or race, but one of humanity.

Would you cross the road to save another? For sure you would – if you were certain, unafraid, interested, able and caring.