For those well-attuned to celebrity happenings, not too long ago musician Demi Lovato was reported to have overdosed, a sad chapter in her self-admitted continuing battle with addiction.

For an uncomfortably-large crop of people, beneath the surface lurks a sinister desire to delight in the misery of others, particularly when the afflicted is cloaked in fame and fortune. To view the nausea-inducing confluence of wickedness and envy, one only needs to cast a casual eye towards social media, which unfortunately possesses an inexhaustible, and often unprompted, well of viciousness.

Often such nefarious musings are hidden beneath the umbrella of “morbid humor”. Yet in other instances, it’s merely an exhibition in unashamed callousness.

In a society known for its generosity and moral fortitude, the question becomes, when we see marquee personalities gripped by agony, why do we revel in their potential destruction? Why do we reflexively embrace and promote our baser, more cruel, instincts?

Why not, in the interest of decency, promote compassion instead? Why not offer well wishes rather than indifference or mean-spiritedness?

At the end of the day, Ms. Lovato is hardly a deserving of our ire. She’s simply a 25-year-old human being with so much life left to live.