To find the 'don't want to get involved' brigade very annoying

[Arabesque]

Obviously there are lots of times and occasions where it's appropriate to keep your beak out and mind your own business.
But there are also times when 'not getting involved' is nothing to boast about. We had a serious issue at work recently; everyone was annoyed, everyone wanted 'something to be done' about it etc. However, when it came to approaching management there was a handful of people who decided they 'didn't want to get involved'. Fair enough if they felt they didn't have strong feelings about the issue. But no. By 'not getting involved' they meant they wanted to sit back, keep their copybook clean, and leave it to others to do the difficult work and sort the problem out.
I've seen in with fellow residents as well. The ones who boast smugly about 'not getting involved in disputes' are often the ones who moan the loudest about anti social behaviour but sit back and let the same people approach the management company/landlord/annoying neighbours.
AIBU to think that sometimes you should get involved and support fellow colleagues or residents trying to sort out an issue that affects you just as much as them?

YANBU, but then I'm the one who ALWAYS gets involved and sometimes it can backfire.

Happens at work too. It always seems to be the same trouble makers that whip the crowd into a frenzy then sit back and watch the shit storm that happens.

They will always gladly point out to some-one that xyz is wrong, xyz shouldnt have said that to you and push the person into making a complaint, but wont do anything to help or make a statement. The poor sap that has been manipulated by the trouble maker always ends up having their name "noticed".

yes!!
I totally agree that the ones who moan the loudest are the ones who will not help to shoulder change too.

Urgh yes, I know a few people like that too. They are generally total shit stirrers that whip up a hornet's nest of anger and problems and then sit back and say 'nothing to do with me'.

I also hate spineless people who sit back and let others behave badly towards others and again say 'I don't want to get involved'. I've ditched several friends because they have that kind of attitude

Yep yep yep.

YANBU.

YANBU.

The problem is, of course, that these cretins people are all very good at just gossiping on the sidelines keeping themselves to themselves when either it's not them or their nearest and dearest who are affected or there's a chance that they might get spattered with something smelly when it hits the preverbial fan.

Standing up and doing the right thing doesn't always win you friends, or mean you'll get your ideal outcome. In fact sometimes it gets you verbally abused or even physically hurt but it's still the only example I want to set my biters.

Just because the 'moral high ground' is often lonley and makes you an easy target for snipers doesn't mean it's not worth being there.

Glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. What really annoys me is the way some people almost make a virtue out of this kind of behaviour - 'oh, well I just keep out of things', 'I don't really like hassle so I say nothing' - when what they really mean is 'I know if I sit back and do nothing someone else will sort it out'.
At least be honest and say 'I'm a lazy coward' instead of smiling sanctimoniously and trying to make out you're some kind of a saint.

I agree, Arabesque

I know a couple of women that say they 'want to be friends with everybody' which I think is totally cowardly and unrealistic.

One of them is a mum at my DC's school; she is an expert in gossiping and telling people that X said this and Y said that, yet when the shit hits the fan she comes out with the old 'I just want to be friends with everybody' tripe

It depends on the situation, if there was bullying at work, a neighbour being targeted by thugs, someone being stalked or antisocial neighbours driving everybody up the wall with loud music, I'd happily get involved to help because help is needed, in the public interest, in the victims interest and will be appreciated by those suffering and in need of aid.

I draw the line at other peoples dramas or personal lives. I have no intention of poking my nose into my neighbours love of weed, interfering with anothers relationships/friendships, trying to cure someone of their drug addictions/eating disorders, refereeing other peoples fights etc... I just don't care. Nobody's going to drag me into their domestics, mental problems, attention seeking or obsession with invading other peoples private lives. That never goes well and it's insanely boring.

zoraqueenofzeep the examples you give above are ones that I would get involved in.

It is the really stupid ones that grate me. For example, the vending machine broke down for a couple of days and a couple of manipulators were stirring the shit, constantly moaning about it, telling people that the managers had the time to use a kettle and everyone else had to suffer etc etc. 2 people decided to complain to management and were made to look like idiots because work were waiting for the machine to be fixed and there was a kettle available. The original shit stirrers sat back and said nothing as "they didnt want to get involved". But if it wasnt for their stirring it would never have happened.

I'd probably agree with you, but I really don't want to make a fuss.