History has a habit of constantly repeating itself. We are simply different actors on the same stage. Hopefully we as a species have gotten over the reality of all human civilizations up until about 50 years ago, which were all about an endless cycle of war after war, invasion after invasion, and genocide after genocide.

One of the most dreadful episodes of the last century was without doubt what happened in Europe between 1930 and 1945. We’ve all seen the documentaries, movies, and heard the accounts from the dwindling group of people who remember what happened first-hand. Sadly, the human race does not have a great reputation for calm reason and the ability to avert crisis. And part of this is due to our propensity for “following the crowd” into the abyss. It’s hard to step back from common groupthink and critically look at things, especially if that involves taking any sort of risk. Most people are simply either unaware or unwilling to do that.

Look carefully at the above famous picture. It shows a crowd in 1930s Germany, all joining in with the dogma of the day. One person is circled however, who is refusing to follow the crowd (no doubt at great risk to himself). I heard a great quote the other day: We all assume, when we read the history of what happened in occupied Europe in World War 2, that we would have been on the side of the resistance. Of course we would be standing up to such a vile ideology! Of course we would take Anne Frank in and shelter her! But the answer is a firm No. Only a tiny minority of us would be willing to take that sort of personal risk—and would, had we lived back then, just kept our heads down, obeyed all the jackboot rules, and followed the crowds into that darkness. That’s not me being judgmental. It’s the reality of human nature and the structure of human societies.

To give an example of a situation from the last year of the pandemic, which I feel quite strongly about. Now I am not for one moment comparing what happened in World War 2, to this example I am about to give. But I am merely using it as an anecdote of how an educated group of people can sit by and watch, as nonsense unfolds. I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the unacceptable situation of patients dying alone in hospitals over the last year, which is nothing short of a human rights’ violation. As I noted in my article, except for the most dire circumstances where a healthcare facility is overwhelmed, there is zero reason why a common sense and compassionate solution cannot be found to this problem. I have heard stories of relatives virtually begging to see their loved one before they die, and refused access. I have heard stories of family members even purchasing their own PPE, and being refused the right to be present during their loved ones’ last moments on this earth. One would have to have a heart of stone, especially in healthcare, to not feel for them. Yet, this shouldn’t be happening—and doctors know it too.

Following my article and video, I received a great deal of support from nurses and above all, the general public. Yet almost radio silence from physicians, who are the professionals with the loudest voices in healthcare. We know this is a very suboptimal thing to be happening to our patients. We know that it goes against the very notion of compassion in medicine. We know some common sense solutions exist to put an end to it. Yet, it’s far easier to stay silent than rock the boat. It’s far easier to walk on by, than it is to raise our voice. It’s far easier to turn that blind eye in the name of obeying the rules, rather than questioning their necessity. And so, the scenario continues to play out across the nation and world.

If we are not capable of standing tall and fixing this relatively easy-to-fix problem, what hope is there for the bigger ones.

Suneel Dhand is a physician, writer, and YouTuber. He is Founder at MedStoic Lifestyle Medicine and DocsDox . Follow him on YouTube and Facebook.