Why We Need The Concept of Moral Dis/engagement Now.

“’Tis not enough to give.
Methinks I could deal kingdoms to my friends
And ne’er be weary.”

-Timon of Athens.

As I point out here:

Food And Healthcare.

I think food should be free. Along with health care and a basic standard of living, for us all. But until that happens, we need concepts like moral engagement. Just like we need the concept of family, and why its status should be protected too, like it says in the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Perhaps one person could in theory support just one beggar. Pay for his food, housing, medical care, etc. We had beggar like that once about 20 years ago. And my father ended up giving him $200 a day. We didn't know the man. He came out of nowhere, and probably gave us fake name. And the money we suspected he was spending on drugs. Though he said he needed it just for food, $200 a day. But no. The federal government, the state and city should help people in immediate need, always. And they should then take steps, like with a public health system and basic income, to make sure we all have a reasonable, and comfortable existence.

Like I said before. When a beggar asks for a dollar, at that point, no one in the world has a greater obligation to help him than you. But sandwiches at McDonald's are still under $5. And food in the stores in my neighborhood often sell it much cheaper than that. Plus if he wants more than $10, he probably will spend it on drugs. Give him a sandwich instead, my mother used to say. And then tell him you never want to see him on your property again. But the government for immediate, and then long-term, needs. And in the meantime, that is why we have family to help us. Most of us do, anyways.

 

You know, I'm sorry to support Mother Teresa again (as I sometimes do). But I have to. She's wasn't all bad. Maybe a little misguided sometimes. And she lived in horrible poverty herself, to help the poor of India. Like I've told people in the past (including some of those rich liberal elitists in my country). Could you do that?

And her philosophy wasn't always that misguided, at least sometimes. She said if you can't feed a hundred, just feed one. That's true. If that's all the money she had at that moment to help, she was still helping. And so she accepted money from evil dictators. Money is money. There is the old theory from Matt. 26:15, the theory of blood money. That money is forever tainted with blood. No it isn't. If you're an accessory before or after the fact, that's different. Money is money. It helps. Frankly even if you're an accessory before/after the fact it might still help. Ask a utilitarian.

 

“’Tis not enough to give.
Methinks I could deal kingdoms to my friends
And ne’er be weary. Alcibiades,
Thou art a soldier, therefore seldom rich.
It comes in charity to thee, for all thy living
Is ’mongst the dead, and all the lands thou hast
Lie in a pitched field.”

And I was thinking especially the past year or so about that above quote, from Shakespeare's "Timon of Athens". As I tell people, I came across it just by accident actually. It's a quote on giving. Timon says in it that even if he gave all he have and ended up poor, could people still say he gave enough? I know some people say that you can't give all you have or help everyone, because then you'd be poor and destitute. But on the other hand, if ever did that, gave all they have, it would solve all our problems.

Places like like Europe and Canada are prosperous, with very little poverty or hunger. But they make up only a small fraction of the world's population. Most of the world is starving, poor and homeless. And maybe the idea, that what happens in the rest of the world is not their concern, if really the problem here. Also, you know speaking of the world's population. The United States has almost 350 million people now. It is the third most populated country in the world, and the most populated in the Americas and the Western Hemisphere. By sheer numbers, things that happen in the United States should matter to the rest of the world. In fact, they should matter a lot. The world should be concerned about not about how we respect basic human rights, but the economic rights too of our citizens and residents. We're all part of the same human family after all. The U.S. used to have the highest standard of living in the world. But by 2021, only about half the people in the U.S. lived in the middle class. That trend has to be stopped. And it's not too late. The richest of the rich here have ridiculous amounts of money. More than they could ever really use or spend. And nobody is saying that they have to give away all of it. But they should give their fair share.