We need all the help we can get.

The human race is diminished whenever a decision is made to serve personal benefit rather than to abide by the distinct benefits for all society, as laid out by the best intentions of our moral code.

That is to say, selfish choices keep the human race from achieving grand things.

Imagine a team of writers who work on a fictional character, this character is defined as having the strongest of moral codes. That in no circumstance will the character ever make a choice that benefits them over another person. The team set up many challenging situations where the character’s values are put to test but between them they always examine the situation and write the script such that in the end the saintly character does the right thing.

Each of the writers are aware of just how heroic the character they collaborate on is, but as they finish work each day they go out and live in a way such that their decisions never once match up to the moral certainty found in their work.

When we face day to day dilemmas we live selfishly. Taking what we can to benefit ourselves. Occasionally charity might be shown to those we feel capable of caring for, but as a society made of individuals we constantly fail to maintain an average level of care for one another.

Not every difficulty facing mankind today comes from out inability to see how each of us fails to lift this average, but there are many wrongs in the world that stem from our failure to care for anyone but a certain few. World hunger, war, sickness, racial hatred, intolerance, these problems come from poor decisions and priorities that do not allow for your fellow human beings.

Compassion for your loved ones is not admirable, it is the bare minimum and only the beginning of where you should start. Compassion for the latest heart wrenching target of media attention does not alleviate the responsibility we all have to improve the standing of everyone. Charity may begin at home, but it should go out to the ends of the earth.

I am guilty of picking me first, and letting others deal with their own problems. I’m not looking to be raised higher or receive assistance beyond what we should all have as a basic human right. I am not claiming to be better than any other human being. I am claiming the average human being is a pretty poor example. And again – we need to raise that average.

Think about this next time you have to choice, it should not be about them or us. It should be a choice between me and us. And you should always choose us. We need all the help we can get.