Death and Suffering

by Inah Robles

Levinas states that we are responsible for the death of the other. We might not have directly killed someone, we might not have blood on our hands but we do have a fault.

We live in a finite world. A world where opportunities are limited, and each time we take an opportunity, we have essentially taken a chance away from someone. We have taken their chance at a job to support their family, a chance to go to the school they've always dreamed of. This is part of life, but this also means that for every opportunity we get, we must do our best in order to be just to those who were not granted the same privilege.

More than just the finite word, we face structural injustices. Poverty, oppression are common occurrences in the world we live in. However, too few do anything to challenge the status quo for the fear of becoming an outcast or simply many "do not have the time". It is this mentality that has allowed many to die from poverty, from the lack of shelter, and water- all these deaths could have been prevented if enough people had the were responsible for the other.

Unfortunately, we live in a capitalist world where profit and wealth have been the objective of most people. Many are willing to trample on the dignity and basic rights of the other in order to gain more than what they need to survive- hence the tale of the 1%. Where 1% of the population live extremely comfortably, while the 99% have difficulty meeting their daily needs.

We must remember that the world was never filled with enough resources to fulfill everyone's wants and capricious demands, seeing the other's needs and as an equal you are responsible for can help alleviate the 99%'s suffering.