Dear ol' Dolly said it best: "Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion." And we here at Shmoop are usually not in the business of disagreeing with Dolly Parton.

Most of the somber moments in life can be leavened a wee bit. Take the 2017 presidential inauguration, for example: that serious event was made hilarious thanks to George W. Bush and his struggle to put on a poncho. Or, hey, take Joe Biden. The devoted politician's life was marked by tragedy, hard work, perseverance…and a bunch of memes that make him look like a precocious 3-year-old. And the moon landing? Maybe the most amazing accomplishment of the 20th century, but also (more importantly?) a satire-ready conspiracy theory mill.

But then there's the stuff that can't be laughed off or lightened with a joke. And the work of Elie Wiesel is one of those things.

He was unbelievably intelligent, a wonderful speaker, and a brilliant storyteller—and he was also a Holocaust survivor, which means most of his speeches focus on memorializing the millions of people who lost their lives under Hitler's Final Solution.

"The Perils of Indifference" is no exception.

But in this speech, Wiesel also talked about what it means to be human, and how remaining indifferent to suffering and discrimination endangers not only the lives of the victims, but also the very humanity of the bystanders. Wiesel thought the world had learned this lesson from the Holocaust, but the second half of the 20th century—"The Perils of Indifference" was delivered in 1999—revealed otherwise.

A lot of suffering, murder, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war occurred in the latter part of the 20th century, and plenty of people showed their indifference.

Wiesel's point was that, although the Holocaust happened a long time ago, that doesn't mean we get to forget about it, or tuck it away into the history books. We have to be learning from it every single day and actively choosing not to be indifferent to what's going on around us. Dastardly plans for world domination are only funny when we're talking about movies like Kingsman: The Secret Service—in the real world, they have a very human cost.

So, yes—after reading (or listening to) "The Perils of Indifference," you're probably not going to feel like cracking any jokes. But you'll walk away feeling like you want to make a difference, and that's even more important.

If you've read a lot of our guides, you'll know we usually use this space to tell you the semi-secret message behind the text: you should care about Jane Eyre because it's actually a scathing commentary about the Man; you should care about Titanic because it ended the reign of the "event movie"; and you should care about Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech because it helped usher in today's displays of social media solidarity.

You know, the subtle message-behind-the-message stuff. (We're good like that.)

But when it comes to "The Perils of Indifference," the reason why you should care is front and center. This whole speech tells you why you should care. A less eloquent phrasing of "The Perils of Indifference" would be "Why Not Caring Is Super Dangerous."

In his speech, Elie Wiesel makes it clear that we all have to get involved to put a stop to atrocities from occurring around the world. And unfortunately, caring isn't just a Monday to Friday kind of gig. It requires everyone to pull their weight, to speak up and speak out, every time, all the time.

It's been two decades since he gave the speech, and yet somehow we still see the consequences of indifference on the news every single day. For example? As of this writing, people in Syria and other ISIS-controlled areas are still being slaughtered and kicked out of their homes, and the United States and other countries have been hesitant to offer help. For Wiesel, it all felt pretty familiar.

In an article for The Washington Post, he criticized the rest of the world for refusing to intervene beyond a few economic sanctions and statements released to the press.

Guys, the piece was published on the day he died, in 2016. This was literally the last thing this great writer and Holocaust survivor left us—and sadly, it was more or less the exact same message he shared at the White House in 1999.

If you listen to Wiesel (or even more recently to Amal Clooney), we have some explaining to do because genocide is not a thing of the past…and neither is the reality that lots of people are choosing to be indifferent to it.

It's got to be now, folks; there's literally no time left to waste. We have to choose not to be indifferent, not just because it'll save the people suffering around the world but because, according to Wiesel, choosing indifference means we end up eroding our own humanity.

So there you have it: "The Perils of Indifference" is all about why we should care.