In the short story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula Le Guin, an interesting concept is brought up. The question is can we live happy and peaceful lives while others suffer to make that life happy and peaceful? I think that many people live like this subconsciously. For instance, in the United States, many people live joyful and conflict-free lives, but they don't realize the amount of sacrifice put into the flourishing of their life. People in China work in extreme conditions to make items that seem almost useless in our eyes, but they sacrificed their time and health just to produce that seemingly "useless" item. I feel that once in a while, people that are more privileged than others should sacrifice for that less privileged person. After reading the two quotations listed below, I realized that our government neglects the children, the needy, the elderly, the poor, or the handicapped often more than not. Especially when someone is blatantly asking for help, it infuriates me that people simply disregard the people that need the most help. I am for sure guilty as well, we are all guilty. Even people that think they are innocent have disregarded someone in need once in their life. Although it is not exactly easy to sacrifice for another, it should still be done especially by those who we consider as role models and leaders. So I leave you with a question to ask yourself: How do I react, when someone less fortunate asks for sacrifice?
"...the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped. " ~ Last Speech of Hubert H. Humphrey
"A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
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