I think that if I was to repeat Loeb’s quote, “Our most fundamental responsibilities as citizens is to love not only our own children, but other people’s as well…”, most people generally agree with the quote, but some people may feel that their family should come before helping out with other people. I think that is almost a selfish way to feel. Sure, you should always take care of your family, especially if the well being of one or more members is at stake, but I think that we really should try to help each other out even if we ourselves are struggling. You may think that you are not in the best position to start helping out with other people, but the little that you are able to give might make a difference to someone that is even worse off than you. Maybe being part of the community might help you out with your own struggles as well. We need to try to treat our community as if it was part of our family.
This same concept can go for helping out with people outside of the country. We may be having our own economic problems here, but in some countries, people are fighting to survive. How many times have we seen an ad for sponsoring a child in a third world country and just changed the channel? After the earthquake in Haiti, many people asked, “Why are we going to help out another country when we have plenty of our own problems here?” Although America is full of problems, we don’t have people buried under rubble and dying in the streets. Sometimes it is better to put our own issues on the back burner for a little and help someone else out in need. A better question may be, “Why does it take a horrible instant disaster to cause us to rise to action?” If people are frustrated with the lack of attention towards issues that are facing America, maybe it is time for them to step up and try to make a change.
I really like your point of view on all of this. I completely agree with feeling the need to take care of our own families before others. It is so true that giving any little bit can make a difference for someone else, regardless how small you have to offer. Every little bit builds together like pebbles forming a dam, it's slow progress but continues to move forward.
ReplyDeleteI like what you said about treating our community as part of our family. We tend to forget that other people are going to affect our lives and the lives of our children and that ignoring the problems of others will only make things worse for everyone. If we reach out and try to help them in anyway that we can, then everyone will benefit from this in the end.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right. Too often, we see the TV ads of the children in africa and change the channel. Unfortunately, many of us have heard that they are scams and though we feel bad, change the channel out of fear for the money not going where it should be. But then shouldn't we find another way to give to that child? The answer is yes! Because, as you said, "we should treat our community like our family" and no one would let their child starve here in America like many do in third world countries.
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