In H Block's Friday class, we were presented with information about the history of the conflict in Sudan, and what is being done to put an end to the mass violence. The speaker was an example of an 'upstander,' the opposite of a bystander, of someone who was taking actions based on her beliefs. The facts of the current situation in Darfur would be considered 'intolerable' by most people. As residents of the United States, we are not in constant danger of death or displacement, so in the literal sense, we can 'tolerate' the genocide in darfur, because it is not physically endangering to our persons. However, I feel it is safe to say that nobody I know would agree that the mass killing/displacement of innocent members of a society is a good thing.
So I have a few questions:
When and how does one decide to take action if s/he considers a situation 'intolerable'?
How does one decide the boundaries of responsibility? (i.e. helping a neighbor vs. a person in a different neighborhood vs. a person in a different country?)
On a more personal level, what factors would cause you to take action to help a cause that did not have a direct affect on your physical well-being? (Our speaker was motivated to take action on behalf of Darfur because of the loss and and sorrow her family experienced as Austrian Jews during WWII.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
This is in response to the question about what would drive me to want to help causes (like the genocide in Darfur) that don't exactly have a direct/daily effect on my life. I think my sense of obligation can be linked to the idea of how we are all the same (more or less), and just like all human beings need to work as a collective to save our planet, that same collective needs to help preserve the value of the life of a human being. How did we let our expectations of one another slip so dramatically, to the point where such atrocities, like the genocide in Darfur, don't even phase us enough to do whatever needs to be done to stop it? I find it incomprehensible that people allow the physical space between them distance themselves intellectually from one another. I know this may sound a bit winded and heavy with "we're all human beings" talk, but it's the truth...agree? disagree? lemme know.
Post a Comment