I was watching a YouTube video this morning where the young man being interviewed stated that, essentially, you only care about other people once your own needs are met.
It took me aback. I immediately thought of lots of examples where a person will go without in order to provide someone else with what they need. The mother who goes hungry in order to feed her child. The man who gives up years of his life and any hope of marriage in order to care for an invalid parent. But those are family situations, and maybe the call of your own personal tribe is an exception to the rule. However, when you delve deeper, perhaps the person doing the sacrificing actually gains something greater (in emotional terms) than the thing they sacrificed. So...maybe there's some truth to it? I don't want to think so, but...maybe?
It would also help explain why so many people right now don't seem to care about the suffering of their neighbours. Can turn a blind eye to injustice. Can be apathetic---or at least unsympathetic---when someone around them is going through fear or pain. In these tough times, if the majority of people feel their needs aren't being met---either financially, physically, socially, spiritually, whatever---then maybe they truly can't focus on anything but their own unfilled needs. So we let others fend for themselves, sink or swim, or aren't even aware of others' trauma, because we're so caught up in our own. We don't see our neighbours as part of our family unit. We only care about something when it affects us directly.
I also recently heard an interview with a woman who said she'd never found religion to live up to its hype. That there wasn't such a thing as true community looking out for each other, as organized religions claim. I was saddened by this, and I'm aware of how extremely lucky I am to belong to a religious community that truly does help and love and care for each other. I feel confident I could put out a call for help and others would cheerfully answer, not because it's expected, but because they really do care and want to help. I see people befriending each other at church and know from experience that it's (in the majority of instances) genuine. Is it perfect? Of course not. But maybe some of that success and comfort comes from knowing that we're all trying to meet our own and each other's needs together, as a joint effort. That we see each other as literal brothers and sisters.
The woman also made the argument that those who perform acts of charity or fellowship see themselves as "earning" points in heaven, hoping for a spiritual reward for their behaviour, and therefore it isn't selfless, it's selfish. The only true sacrifice would be if one thought one was giving up one's only hope for happiness or salvation in order to rescue another. Maybe I'm an optimist, but I think most people who see someone in need and reach out to help aren't thinking first of "Oh, I'll get brownie points for doing that" or "What's in it for me?" That is a very cynical view. But, granted, they do know themselves to be a certain type of caring person, and they want to continue to be that kind of person and not have to come to terms with a different view of themselves. So...maybe? What do you think? Is it just part of our make-up as humans, or can we transcend it?
