Reviews on my paper...(kinda long)

[TJ'sLady]

This paper is for my Ethics class. We were to write about what we think our responsibilities are to help those in poorer nations. (starving children, genocide, etc...) I just wanted to get a little feedback before I turned it in...positive or negative, any feedback will help!! Thanks!!

What responsibilities do we have to help those in need in poorer nations? This was a very difficult question for me to answer. Of course, I would like to help every single person in the world if I could. I would like to make sure that no child went without proper nutrition or had access to a doctor when needed, but this isn’t a Miss America contest, I assume you’re looking for an honest and truthful answer.
I know it may sound horrible to say, but I do not feel it is my duty, as an individual, to help those in need. I do not feel “obligated” to call the Christian’s Children line and donate money every time the commercial comes on. Yes, it is basic human nature to want to help those poor children that are living in slums all across the world. I am not so cold hearted that I do not want to help, I just don’t feel like I am obligated to help. I am a single parent barely making it on my own in this world. I may have some “luxuries” (I own a car, even though it’s thirteen years old), I can see a doctor when needed (only because of Medicaid), my family is able to eat when we are hungry (sometimes it may be rice and eggs, but still some nutrition), I have a roof over my head with running water and electricity (it may not be a mansion but to us its better than any mansion could ever be) and I am able to attend college (only because I work an enormous amount of hours to pay for tuition with no assistance). So I’m sorry if my attitude towards helping poorer nations isn’t the easiest to hear, but I have to protect and provide for my family first, before I can help another family out.
I don’t want it to seem like we do nothing to help those who are less fortunate. We may not be helping poorer nations, but we do help out in our own community. We donate our time to help serve food at a local church around the holiday season, when our clothes become too small we donate them to the local homeless shelter or to the “Suited for Work” program (a program that gives “interview attire” to those less fortunate to help them get a job). I often give rides throughout the week to people from my church that have not been blessed with a car. On a personal level, I donate what little free time I have to the local woman’s shelter in any way possible, whether it be helping a woman go through what few items she has left after escaping an abusive husband or just giving a shoulder to cry on to someone who doesn’t understand how she got involved in an abusive relationship. Especially with our nation facing the economic crisis, I feel that my efforts to help “save humanity” are better off being concentrated in my own community.
However, I do feel that people with large disposable incomes should be more active in helping those in poorer nations. I feel that those people would make a larger dent on poverty than my small donation would. I do not understand how some celebrities can justify spending $100,000 on a gown that they will wear to only one event (such as the Academy Awards). In my opinion, it is the people with huge incomes that should feel more “morally obligated” to help out those starving children, not me, a woman who is just barely supporting her own family.
In regards to genocide in other nations, I am also torn on this issue. Again, of course I would love to be the one to swoop in and save a race from being brutally murdered. However, I feel like we as a nation cannot get involved in every single nation’s “problems”. I mean, we as a nation, are already involved in two wars as of this moment. In the case of the genocide that was taking place in Rwanda, some people may say we should have intervened because of the mass amount of people that were being murdered. I say who are we to determine what constitutes as a “mass amount”? Is there a difference between five hundred thousand Rwandan’s being murdered and six million Jew’s being murdered in the Holocaust? Is there a difference in the Crip gang (a West coast gang here in America) trying to wipe out the Blood gang (an East coast gang here in America)? How do we define “genocide”? Do a certain amount of people have to be killed before we feel we need to become “involved”? Does it matter whether those people were chopped to pieces by the blade of a machete (Rwanda Genocide) or whether they were killed “more humanely” with a gas chamber (Jewish Holocaust)? These are questions that I as an individual cannot decide. Which is the reason I will NEVER run for president!
I’m sorry if I was not able to give you the answer you were hoping for, but there is simply too much that needs to be taken into consideration when deciding whether or not we as a country have a responsibility help those in need. I hope you will appreciate my honesty, even though it can be a little disheartening to read.

[onlymii]

Wow!!

Just my personal opinion, but I don't usually give donations to.."the starving children in Africa" because their soldiers and armies have all the weapons they need, are vey well fed and the countires leaders live in more opulent palaces than our Queen does; charity begins at home...?

[TJ'sLady]

That's how I feel that I can make more of a difference here than anywhere else!! (if only they knew how much money, time, and dedication I've "donated" to the prison system... HAHA!!!) Thanks for your feedback!