[satchmodog9]

I think you would be shocked how many people would watch someone burn.

[furquhart]

I don't imagine they'd watch. I imagine they'd walk straight on - it's easier that way.

Like I said, I'm from Vancouver. We have, probably, the biggest drug problem in the Western World. Our streets look like something out of some dystopian sci-fi film half the time.

It may sound insensitive but, a lot of the time, I find myself wishing, a la Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, for a "hard rain to wash all the scum off the streets."

[Fruitbat]

I think you would be shocked how many people would watch someone burn.

Yeah, in this country I could understand it. Someone would probably get sued for taking the man's sleeping bag off of him if it was below 68 degrees. Burning or not. You risk your life's savings.

[burzum]

It's called diffusion of responsibility. When people are in a group they think that it is the group's responsibility to solve a problem, not their own. Diffusion of responsibility is greater when the group is large, respected, and has an authority figure.

In rare instances there are cases where people will take action. This is because these people are either not 'in tune' with the group or because they have a very strong level of personal responsibility. I believe in liberal areas there is a very strong level of group-think and a very weak level of personal responsibility, which is why the greatest atrocities in history have been committed by leftists (because noone would speak up).