Have you ever passed by a person on the street or underpass who was begging for alms? Well, the chances are you have passed at least 1. Orchard is full of people who plead you to lend them some sympathy, to show them some mercy and give them some respite from the savage cruelties of the world. Have you ever passed them by and felt a pang of guilt that you didn't take the measly effort to fish out your wallet and donate a few dollars, or even cents for that matter? You probably have, no? And maybe perhaps you've also passed some of these people and eventually decided that you might just show him some compassion and actually fished out your wallet to donate a few dollars or cents to him. You probably felt happy, no? Now ask yourself why did you donate the money? Hmm? Did you really donate it because you sincerely wanted to help the poor chap or did you just want to rid yourself of the guilt which you have readily come to associate with not helping your fellow man.
Consider this dedication by John Aubrey to the famous political philosopher and author of Leviathan, an argument for why the people require government, Thomas Hobbes.
He was very charitable (to the best of his ability) to those that were true objects of his bounty. One time, I remember, going in the Strand, a poor and infirmed old man craved his alms. He, beholding him with eyes of pity and compassion, put his hand in his pocket and gave him sixpence. Said a divine (Dr Jasper Mayer) that stood by: "Would you have done this if it had not been Christ's command?"
"Yea," said he.
"Why? quoth the other.
"Because," said he, "I was in pain to consider the miserable condition of the old man and now my alms, giving him some relief, doth also ease me.
The moral often drawn from such stories is that all motivations to do something is to satisfy the self. Consider the following examples. A woman running into a burning house to save her baby who is trapped in his/her crib. Why did she do it? Was it because of her undying love for her child or was it because she knew well how she would feel bad about herself if she did not save the child and thus drove into try and save the child to rid herself of this uneasiness. Everyone is self-centered. Even the Bible plays upon this fact. If you've ever taken a good look at the bible you will soon realize that God inspires us to do good by offering us a reward (entry to Heave, paradise) and offering us incentives not to (forced extradition to Hell, which no one wants to go to). If, for example, there had been no such thing as Heaven or Hell, perhaps we would all be sinning like there was no tomorrow.
Even love is affected by this. Do we really love the person? Or is it just that we enjoy being loved by the other and that we understand that in order for this to last, we need to love the other person back?
Avert your eyes from their gaze, says Amanda Chong in her poem How to watch a child die, even if they plead you to be drawn to their depths. What does it mean? Simple. Do not find reasons to feel guilty and you will not be compelled to do something about it.
Just something to ponder about.
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