Those of you who read my blog, know that I have spoken about the Tea Party as well as the new role religion seems to play in the post Tea party world.
Well I was recently witness to two events that made me realize that in this new order of things compassion has been set aside in lieu of an individualistic "personal accountability" narrative.
In my philosophy class a student needed a note taker. The person who volunteered would receive a gift certificate to the USU (Utah state University) bookstore at the end of the semester. So at the beginning of class our professor sent the sign up sheet around. When class ended 50 min later the sheet was empty. Not a single person was willing to share their notes with a student in need.
The other event was a tweet by Bill Maher talking about the fact that Jerry Lewis was no longer the face of the MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association), someone made this comment. "I can't believe they are still doing charity shows, why are hard working people always asked to give money to people."
What these two stories illustrate is a radical shift in thinking in the last three years. It used to be that people could not say such things for fear of being seen as having a cold heart, or being selfish. Now these kinds of statements are nothing to run from, in fact to a certain group of people these statements are seen as bold and patriotic.
My first semester at USU I watched professors solicit not takers for their classes, and saw many students rise up and take on the task. Three years later, and the tides have turned. This is not okay with me , and it should not be okay with you. We risk our human dignity if we allow ourselves to believe that helping others is wrong.
