What is the cost of doing nothing?
Of standing pat? Of deciding good enough is good enough?
Sometimes the cost is not that high. The only real factor is opportunity cost — the value of possibilities that might have existed if we only went for them.
Other times the consequences can be grave, even deadly.
When armed forces are under attack, a lack of action can lead to mass casualties. One need only to see the end of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End to get a cinematic view of this.
The implications of inaction are clear in this situation. But what about situations where they’re not as direct? How do we act then?
In a word: Poorly.
Consider this.
When we go out and have a good time, one companion is often in the middle of the action. Alcohol.
Booze helps us lighten up. It removes our inhibitions. It gets us feeling good.
And it’s a cultural staple. One inextricably woven into nearly all kinds of get-togethers.
But alcohol provides significant dangers. It affects our behavior, slows our response times and alters our decision making.
At their worst, these effects can ruin lives — or even end them.
Many of us learn about these dangers well before we take our first legal sip of alcohol. Drivers education classes are littered with warnings about drinking and driving. College orientations alert students to the dangers of binge drinking.
But even with these warnings in tow — not to mention the electronic “Don’t Drink and Drive” signs up and down the highway — we still make alcohol-induced decisions that put others at risk.
If those risks come to fruition, we have a ready-made excuse.
But I was drunk.
This excuse is bogus, and even insulting to those harmed by alcohol-fueled behavior.
Having a few drinks shouldn’t give us a free pass to harm others. To victimize and traumatize. To deprive people of their God-given rights.
Yet, it does. Because we, as a society, let it.
We sanctify the act of throwing one back, or having a couple cold ones. Just as we sanctify the flawed principle of Let boys be boys.
We ignore the consequences of defending these principles, because we don’t want to live in a world that deprives us the change to indulge ourselves.
But the danger of inaction is grave.
It impinges justice. It silences victims. And it makes us all complicit in tragedy.
We can do better.
We can do right by those harmed by this behavior.
We can save countless future would-be victims from their fate.
But we can only do so by taking action. By destroying the façade that says having a good time is beyond reproach. By tossing out the flawed defense of youthful innocence.
We don’t need to give up drinking, as I have. We don’t need to put an end to partying.
But we need to lean in to accountability. We must hold everyone responsible for actions that harm others. We have to prevent the root cause of harm from being treated as an immunity defense.
The actions we take matter.
Inaction is no longer an option.