Global Responsibilities Revisited

These days, it seems we can’t go too long without hearing of another natural disaster. This isn’t exactly new – hurricane season happens in certain parts of the world every year, and the after-effects of natural disasters almost always involve even more disasters. Of course, this doesn’t make it any less sad when you hear the stories of the lives devastated by these calamities. But what I find interesting is the way the rest of the world responds.

I’ve written before about our responsibility to help people around the world. It’s easy to get caught up in “me, me, me” and focus on the things that happen to the people and places closest to home. All too often, people forget about their ability to help those in bad situations around the world.

It’s almost refreshing, then, that when these events occur, we often rise to the challenge. The response to the earthquake in Haiti was significant, and in the past couple of days, I haven’t gone more than a few blocks without overhearing somebody talking about the situation in Chile. People are ready to give their money and goods when and where it’s needed.

In thinking about it a bit more closely, however, sometimes it seems the balance is tipped in the opposite direction. For example, I keep hearing stories about people wanting to adopt Haitian children. In reality, most children still have their parents; they simply don’t have the basic resources they need, but this is true for both the children and the parents. This just goes to show that any help people want to give needs to be considered with the bigger picture in mind.

Even still, I think it shows that people do have a great desire to help and that every so often we allow ourselves to feel the connection we have to the rest of the world. Perhaps we all need to become more in tune with that tug, so we can feel it all the time and constantly give back.