The paradox of modern living is that we are more capable
than people in the past to affect the lives of others and, in particular, to
reduce the suffering of those who are less fortunate than we are and, yet, we
do nothing about it. Because of modern communication
and travel, we know how people around the world suffer and we have the ability
to ameliorate their suffering. Yet we
get up every morning and feel no pressing need to do something for other people
and we feel no responsibility for people around the world. We hardly make a difference in our own life,
much less the lives of people elsewhere.
I don’t remember when I became
aware of the suffering that is occurring around the world. I think on some
level I have been aware of it for a long time.
I avoid uncomfortable situations and conversations at all costs, so I
tend to avoid thinking about things that are unpleasant for me or for those in
my immediate surroundings. Like the
people in Omelas, I wake up each morning, focus on the people I see and the
things I need to do.
I don’t find a balance between living
my life and bettering the world. For as long as I have been aware of the
situation of those less fortunate, I have ignored the problem. Yet I accept that I have moral responsibility
to do something to help make their lives better.
The people who walk away from the
utopia of Omelas in Ursula LeGuin’s story, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, are
neither cowards nor heroes. They are braver than those around them because they
lose patience with watching this wretched child suffer. However, they don’t stand up for the child or
help it either. Their leaving does not affect the child. It won’t make the
child’s life better or worse. It only
shows them to be humane enough not to be able to tolerate watching a child
suffer, but not sufficiently humane to do anything about it or to feel so
responsible that they cannot walk away.
