Around 265.7 million people around the globe are facing acute hunger. The worst hunger crisis is in Gaza, where 640,700 people, which makes almost 32 per cent of its total population, are facing famine conditions. According to the United Nations Development Programme reports, 1.1 billion people are living in acute multidimensional poverty, and over half of them are children. The environment and climate have reached such a point of deformation from which it is difficult to recover.
In such a situation of a humanitarian crisis, when someone is asked whether they will help a person in need or donate to a starving child? The response is always, “Yes, sure, we will.” But some real-life incidents and research have found the opposite.
The famous bystander effect phenomenon states that, in critical situations, people usually do not come forward to help those in need. Because of the feeling of diffusion of responsibility that someone else can offer help, they restrain themselves from helping. When a person realises that there are many people around who are watching that specific person in need, they prefer not to intervene because the thought that obviously someone will offer help prevails.
This could be better understood from the murder of 28-year-old Ketty Genoves. She was stabbed 28 times to death outside her department. It was reported that many of her neighbours were witnessing the incident, but no one stepped in to assist or call the police.
Then there is the incident of a little girl, Wang Yue, who was hit by a van in the street. Eighteen people passed by her bleeding body, but no one stopped to help until a second van ran over her. Then a street cleaner picked her up and rushed to the hospital. But it was too late.
We are living in times where ethical responsibility towards humanity is declining, and we are more focused on ourselves. And our lives lack true meaning and fulfilment. The decline of religious values and the collapse of communism have left us with the concept of the free market. This focuses only on consuming, working hard and earning money and, in turn, consuming more and more. This ideology has taken over societies such that even people who are leading a good life are not satisfied with their way of life. In the pursuit of a luxurious life, we are certainly surrounded by everything we desire, yet there remains an emptiness in our lives.
We must free ourselves from the absurd standards of success that society has set. We should think beyond the boundaries of self-interest. We are not here just for ourselves, but we also have some ethical responsibility towards humanity. Ethics guides us towards high goals that give meaning to our lives. They guide us to think outside the box of self-interest and come forward to make a contribution towards the betterment of humanity. Instead of hoarding all for oneself, we share a part of what we have with those in need.
According to Peter Singer (a philosopher), such an ethical approach does not forbid us from enjoying our lives, but it changes our priorities. It shifts our perspective from personal pleasure to a harmonious society that meets everyone’s basic needs.
The above-explained incident shows that we need to change something in our thinking. That makes us better humans, who not only think of their own benefits but also strive for the good of others. The people around us are also humans like us, with the same needs, which, due to their life crises, they are unable to fulfil. And if we can help them in any way, we should not turn away. How can we do that? Start with grassroots-level efforts: help someone in need in your surroundings, share food with those who can’t afford it, and donate to social welfare projects. These actions may appear small, but their impact is immense.
In the endnote, we are not responsible for what anyone else is doing or what the other person can afford to help with; we are responsible for what positivity we are offering to society, whether it’s a small act of kindness or not. Material things are temporary and eventually become old and useless, but a small act of kindness has a lasting impact.