A leap of faith

Subject: A leap of faith.

How normal is the phrase "love thy neighbour as thy love thyself". 

Can it, other than in the most limited circumstance be true that we have to be, not only sympathetic but actively cooperative when fellow human beings need our help.
The plight of the "boat people" loaded into inflatable life rafts in Libya and towed to a position just outside the 12 miles territorial limit and left to drift, taunting international opinion to pick up and save these people or let them drift and perish.
In the case of our own poor who receive a plethora of aid and benefits. They are now complaining that with the new Universal Credit they are having to wait over six weeks with no money coming in. These are people who have come to expect the support that society offers, without which they will go hungry and one supposes could eventually die.

 "The Poor House" was an institution over 100 years ago which was so feared by poor people that they would do anything to avoid being forced into this last resort since it was a manifestation of total failure, a social pit out of which it was near impossible to climb.

Today we have no such Sword of Damocles hanging over us at least in this country. Social awareness has changed the outlook of people who now believe that there is a minimum standard by which we living within a civilised society can expect. This has become inculcated into the national psychic and a dependency culture has grown to include all those who see themselves as deprived of what others might have. 

The American dream where everyone prepared to work hard could make their way and prosper was based on people having reasonably well paid jobs to go to. Industry and mass production, factories and assembly plants meant that work was available and even in this country the wool and cotton mills as well as the motor manufacturing workshops were the bedrock of our society, where with proper control we could encourage the dream of getting on financially and stimulate that most important aspect, self respect.

With work now fragmented so has our ability to see ourselves in the other persons shoes. Everyman or woman for themselves has meant that we are less caring. Why should I worry about some African tossed about in a boat, nearer death than life. Why should I bother if people are laid off work or become unemployable because of their poor education. Why should I continue to show compassion for the survivors of the fire in the flats if they don't avail themselves of what ever is offered, since no one ever gave me a handout.

And so we see these dramas on the world stage working themselves through. We see them as footage on a news bulletin and listen to their protestations of need and we start to slowly turn away, there are just too many claims on our pocket and on our emotions.

Do people have rights. If I were born to a mother in Somalia, if I was born a girl in China, if I were born with any kind of deformity in a poor nation, would my "rights" be heard or have any relevance.

It's so hard to maintain ones positivity in these matters since the concept of being truly poor is hopefully theoretical and as with anything which requires one to take on other people's burdens which are not first hand your own, it requires a leap of faith.