Not being responsible for strangers means that I’m not responsible for their lives or well-being. I could send money for food to Africa and it would feed a lot more people than my husband, but I don’t, because I feel more responsible for feeding him than feeding them, even if there are more of them and he can skip a meal with no ill effects.
I meet my obligations, then help random strangers with what’s left. I made a commitment to my husband’s emotional well-being and a promise not to betray him. The strangers get what’s left.
Really? You condemn thousands of people to suffer and die every year by paying for high-speed internet access and a cell phone instead of giving that money to charities that build wells where there is currently limited/no access to clean, safe water. So many people and families suffering and dying to make your life a little more entertaining and convenient. You’re just as selfish as the rest of us.
There are degrees of selfishness, I admit. I am less selfish for driving my 45 mile to the gallon grocery getter than the SUV driver but more selfish than the person taking his bike to work.
But this scenario is the opportunity to directly effect the lives of 10,000 people. I would give my life to save far fewer than that if I was ever given the opportunity to do so directly. Not to be a hero posthumously but because it would be the right and just thing to do as part of the human race.
But you *can * directly effect the lives of 10,000 people, maybe more depending on your level of income and activity. Assuming you are not living with the barest of bare minimum, you could be feeding hundreds of families with the money you spend on discretionary expenses such as cable, phone and internet access. You could be a missionary and devote your entire life to helping the poor simply make it through the day every day. Maybe you chose (or will choose at some point) to have children as opposed to adopting orphans from some third world nation. Does that make you selfish? No. It makes you human. Not everyone is Mother Theresa. That doesn’t make the rest of us heartless bastards, either.
Would your opinion change if the person who declined the offer was a scientist working on a cure for cancer? Or was the sole provider for their family? Whatever our contribution to the greater good, if you want to have a positive impact on the world, you start with those closest to you. Especially if you are a parent. You have a duty to your children. In them you have the opportunity to sow the seeds of the future. Do you teach them that their lives have no value compared to everyone else who might require your sacrifice and that they have no obligation to the person who depends on them most? Or do you teach them that commitments are not to be taken lightly and that parents are dependable and responsible?
Yes, I would sacrifice the love of my life to spare 10,000 strangers from a slow, horrible death by cancer. In fact, I would welcome the opportunity. I think the love of my life would agree with me, could he understand what was really going on.
No, I’m not kidding. Ten thousand people. My own happiness isn’t worth ten thousand lives. I’d rather be alone.