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How do you cope with knowing that there is needless suffering?

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Nebbers said:
I help out from time to time when I am able, and take some comfort / guilt relief knowing that I'm offering more help with my limited resources than countless people who have far more wealth than they could possibly need are offering.
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Why would you feel guilty? What did you do to put those people in that suffering?
 
I dont worry about it. I have my own set of problems and I dont have enough time in the day to worry about everybody else.
To bad, so sad, not my problem.
 
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference. Serenity Now!
 
rhino56 said:
The problem is this has been going on for as long as i can remember, and in 45 years i haven't seen one charitable organization do much to change it.
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The most effective charities are the ones that help with stuff like water purification, malaria prevention, etc. I try to throw a few bucks toward malaria vaccine research every year. It's not as warm & fuzzy a cause as "feed a starving child," but if they ever get one to work it might become, no exaggeration, the biggest lifesaver in human history.
 
dank69 said:
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to hide the bodies of those who have pissed me off.. Serenity Now!
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FTFY.

There's a lot of "pain and suffering" in the world. I just don't care about those who I don't know, who live in other countries, who are not part of my life.

Cruel and callous? Perhaps, but it's not my place to fix all the wrongs in the world.
 
alkemyst said:
I doubt anyone here thinks you are anything special either.
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So let's see. You are arguing that, I, for having an emotional response and care towards people who are going through unbelievable pain or persecution etc etc, am the one who is the hopeless and wrong one, while the people who say they just don't give a shit are the normal and correct ones?

Yes, I really value your judgement here. Thanks for setting me straight
 
slayer202 said:
So let's see. You are arguing that, I, for having an emotional response and care towards people who are going through unbelievable pain or persecution etc etc, am the one who is the hopeless and wrong one, while the people who say they just don't give a shit are the normal and correct ones?

Yes, I really value your judgement here. Thanks for setting me straight
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Perhaps you worded it wrong but it sounded like you were taking the time to tell us you don't give a shit and we are all loons for posting in a RIP thread.
 
What's with this "over-population" bs? There are enough resources to feed everyone on the planet, by all accounts known to me. Obviously it's not profitable though.

If you don't care, just say it. Don't hide behind "oh because the world *has* to be that way".
 
Religious philosophy is focused on how to deal with the suffering associated with life.

As Newbian said, "Charity starts at home". I do what I can to take care of my family and friends first. The rest of the world means little to me.

I will not hold myself responsible for:
  • the improper decisions other people make,
  • when people unable to feed and shelter themselves have children that end up hungry and unclothed, and
  • the general stupidity of others.

People have Free Will to make their own decisions. The quality of a person's life is directly related to the decisions they make.

I care when an individual makes intelligent decisions but outside factors ruin prudent action. These are the people I help when able. However, I do not go out of my way to learn each individual's history.

For those children born in poverty, their parents made poor decisions. The compounded mistakes made by these people make them little more than abject animals to me and they are not included in my concept of humanity.


lxskllr said:
Death, disease, and starvation are a natural, and healthy part of an ecosystem. It isn't worth worrying about because it has to be.
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Very concise and well said. :thumbsup:
 
chusteczka said:
For those children born in poverty, their parents made poor decisions. The compounded mistakes made by these people make them little more than abject animals to me and they are not included in my concept of humanity.
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They don't have the ability or knowledge to be able to change their situation. They don't know any better. But then again, neither do you
 
some would say it isn't needless, in that life is supposed to include suffering, just in different forms for different people
 
I cope because of ATOT. I feel that I share the burden of needless suffering in the world whenever I read a neckbeard post.
 
I feel bad for anyone here that has lost a pet or family member. Despite everything else, I feel closer to people in this forum than some random person I've never said/typed a word to.
 
rhino56 said:
The problem is this has been going on for as long as i can remember, and in 45 years i haven't seen one charitable organization do much to change it. Giving people supplies doesn't seem to change anything, they need to teach them how to live better. One person could change how a village lives. But don't think you need to travel to Africa to find starving children, go to Detroit, teach people that drugs are bad. There should be some kind of law that makes people get sterilized after the second drug offense.
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Kinda agree with you here. Charities for the most part hurt, rather than help. They teach reliance. As in, the receiver becomes reliant on the charity of others. There is no motivation to do well for yourself or your family.
All the cry babies and people that think the world is so bad boohoo, waahh wahh, have to realize, there are people in the US that left those stinking shit holes. They did whatever it was they could to leave and come here.
Yes here, because even though there are a bunch of over privilidge sussies whinning about banks on Wall Street, this is the land where someone can fight and claw their way out of abject poverty or nightmare on Earth scenarios from across the globe, and make it big here.

Don't feel bad for anyone else. If you're going to live your live feeling sad that bad things happen to people all over the world you might as well just // your wrists and be done with it, because it's always going to be happening.
 
slayer202 said:
They don't have the ability or knowledge to be able to change their situation. They don't know any better. But then again, neither do you
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It seems you are unjustly judging others based off your inability to handle your personal guilt and self hate fueled by your compassion felt for others in situations beyond your control.

As mentioned previously, I will not hold myself responsible for my inability to control your personal guilt and self hate. You have the Free Will to make better informed decisions. Philosophically, you will wallow in your abject life until you are better able to cope with the suffering others must endure.
 
Specop 007 said:
I dont worry about it. I have my own set of problems and I dont have enough time in the day to worry about everybody else.
To bad, so sad, not my problem.
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exactly. i have my own children to keep from starving. if i ever get to the point where money is trivial and i can help others, ill help my neighbors. those "3rd world kids" are pretty far down that list of help.
 
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