Do you feel guilty for having a good life?

Question

If you have a good and fulfilled life then you will be able to answer this question, if you don’t then please imagine that you do to be able to answer this question.

You have a good life, you have a great job, good health, the love of your life, etc. Life is good to you.

Now imagine you take a trip to a foreign country where famine and pestilence prevail. Where the policies of one bad government after another have placed the country deeper and deeper into the hole and as such people are starving and suffering.

Next you travel to another country where a natural disasters has levelled massive sections of the cities, millions dead and millions more homeless. Everyone who is alive is suffering from disease brought by the millions of unburied corpses still stuck in the rubble of the cities and the famine that comes from a massive collapse of the infrastructure network.

Now you travel back to your home, your great home and your great job, the love of your life, and everything that you left safely there before your travels.

Do you feel guilty about having so much when others have none or have lost all and what would you do about this guilt?

Why then, if most people would do something to help someone in another country who they do not even know, feel nothing for those that have lost everything or have had to struggle for the meagre things they have within their own community?

Serious answers only pleas.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Ambivalence is the operative word. Sometimes I feel guilt at living the good life, at other times I feel the best thing to do is live well. I am not wealthy, but I have a home, a car, a job, a social life and good food. Americans are unaware of many things, such as the changes which are about to occur in the next 5-10 years in our non-negotiable lifestyle.

The good life in the USA, as represented by material goods, home ownership and automobile travel is about to change drastically. All of these things are predicated on financial system backed by petroleum. In the last 60 years, the USA has built a prosperous nation with petroleum fueling its cars and industry, and creating its products from fertilizers and pesticides to plastics of all kinds.

The population of the US has dramatically increased during the Petroleum age. However, as the supply begins to diminish, we have no suitable or comparable replacements. We will not run out of petroleum in our lifetimes, but worldwide capacity to produce will decline relatively soon so that if we produce 100 barrels today, next year we will produce 98.

Remember that Dick Cheney had a secret meeting about energy early in the Bush Administration. Was it an accident that USA went after Saddam soon after the 9-11 attacks? Ensuring access to Middle East oil has much to do with American foreign policy and the war in Iraq.

Fifty years ago, Admiral Rickover, who was instrumental in building our nuclear naval fleet, warned us about the risks of our economy being dependent on oil. His predictions about US population growth and the inevitable peaking of oil production were not exaggerated at all.

We use 25% of the world's petroleum, while remaining about 5% of the world's population. Working hard and being honest are good qualities of individual Americans. However, it's not how we got to this position. We've pushed our weight around since World War II and bullied a lot of folks. We've done what empires do. This doesn't make us bad, but it explains our current precarious position as a superpower poised to take a big fall.

So when I turn on my air conditioner, do I ever feel guilty? I definitely think about whether I need to use the juice for my comfort. I think I wait until it's really hot before I cool down.

When I was young in the 1960's, very few Americans had airconditioning in their cars: their windows were rolled down. Traffic was difficult at times, but manageable. Now, on days with cool breezes, I ride down the freeway and see that 99% of drivers have their windows closed and their air conditioning blowing.

I know that change will come soon and very hard. However, I can't change the American addiction to excessive use of energy, but I don't have to join all the time to still enjoy living. But I drive 20 miles by myself to work because I still need to eat.

My answer is to do my best to conserve energy, reduce financial debt and make better choices more often than not and still live reasonably well. I know that starvation and natural disasters are part of the world story. I contributed extensively and immediately to victims of Katrina, but am unsure what to do when I see men begging for money in Minnesota, saying they are Katrina victims two years after the Gulf disaster.

As a person of some means, quite modest, I do feel an obligation to contribute where I can to relieve the suffering of others who have much less. Another writer here pointed to the American dream myth as a reason that we do less than any other industrial nation to take care of our own. I can't disagree. We expect our fellow citizens to pull themselves by their bootstraps the way we did. Except if I look at myself closely, I realize I didn't pull myself up at all, but had the helping hand of my parents (tuition), the US government (financial aid), and countless neighbors and employers.

I see no need for guilt for having the things which sustain life. However, the extras to which we have become accustomed and treat as essentials is where the trouble begins. Because of our belief in continual economic growth in which spending is a virtue, we have painted ourselves into a corner from which we will have great trouble emerging. Our wealth as a nation is not only founded on borrowing from our neighbors (China), but from our children as well. I do have trouble with this. Yet I continue to drive my car.

Answer 2

Good question Arthur!

I don't feel guilty for my good life. It's not all good. I hate my job. I know that there are people worse off than me but there are also people far better off than I. If the millionaires & billionaires don't feel guilty then why should I when I'm just a middle-class working stiff?

I had a friend who went on a trip to a third world country. While her resort area was beautiful, just outside the touristy parts there were people living in abject poverty. At one point on the tour bus a desperate woman tried to hand my friend her baby, trying to give the child a better life than poverty & starvation. Heartwrenching. She didn't take the baby, but it made her cry. While on vacation she got to sleep in her nice hotel. Still she got to come home to her beautiful house & comfortable life.

We can't feel guilty for having. But we can do as much as we can to help those in need, here & in other countries. I think those with money to burn, the extremely wealthy should feel some responsibility. If you have enough money that you could literally buy a country & not even make a dent in the bank account then why wouldn't you help those starving & homeless? Maybe because those who are filthy rich got that way by being selfish & ruthless not bleeding heart humanitarians...

Answer 3

Good Question. Yes, I do feel guilty some of the time. I think there are several possible reasons why we don't not help those less fortunate in our "own backyard". Simply we do not concern ourselves with other peoples suffering most of the time. In a Capitalist society, it seems we justify this by telling ourselves "anyone can have the American dream if they work hard enough". Believing this myth, we then are allowed to place blame upon people who are suffering, those who "are not successful, not educated, not empowered" and therefore not accept the responsibility ourselves to try and make a difference, to help those less fortunate. We don't help our neighbors because we blame them for their weakness - its part of our culture.
Personally, I attempt acts of charity and kindness on a frequent basis - but it is far less than I am capable of, and somehow that doesn't bother me, which is sad. I guess I let myself off the hook by thinking "I do more than most".

Philosophy is a lost art!

Answer 4

It is a question that is close to my heart , for many , many years. Before I looked at the wide world outside I looked at my own immediate family where 6 of us grew together as siblings. When I became , somewhat better economically, compared to the other siblings . I felt guilty. I didnot want to aquire a house , accumulate wealth leaving them.

What you say is only an extension of this ... to a larger canvas. The lesson I learnt is that our measurement of comfort , wealth etc is only relative. People with far less are far more happier than us. They are more satisfied . That is the measurement.

Let me put it this way. Subconsciously we ( the privilaged) undergo a metamorphais. Looking at the underprivilaged ( as we call them) we CHANGE for the better. we cut down our comsumption . Our wastage. Our hoarding . Our greed. We feel far more contended.

So, donot feel guilty. The empathy you have in you, convert to understanding . help them. Share with them. Let them be waht they are and let them feel what is best for them.Donot simply brood over it. What little you can do , do. Learn from them the simplicity of life.

Answer 5

I Have A Good Life

Answer 6

Of course I feel guilty. I feel guilty that I haven't given as much as I should've. I feel ashamed that the rest of my country lives in such luxury compared to this foreign country. What we consider so little is so much there. I don't feel nothing, I feel something 'cause how could I not? But, honestly, it's not ALL of our fault. We did not choose for them to be in such a poor spot in society. Their government has something to do with it too. I try to help. But I can't save the whole world you know... not alone... but everyone TOGETHER could save the whole world. =)

Answer 7

I don't necessarily feel guilty, but I feel that because I have had a better life, as a world citizen, it is my job to work to end inequality in the world. I personally tend to be a slightly "selfish" person, so I would actually be more inclined to help someone in my community, who I had a personal connection with, than someone halfway around the world.

Answer 8

I will tell you...As a young boy I experienced poverty and abuse. As a young man I served in Viet Nam and Thailand. I've also made my mistakes and have tried to learn from them.Now that I'm older my life is much better, I want for nothing. I worked and achieved my means with honesty and hard work. I had to learn to take responsibility for myself and my actions. This has offered me the opportunity to give back and I do. Guilty...No.

Answer 9

Yes. I would feel guilty too. But after feeling guilty, i would rather do something, in my own little ways to help, if not those who are far , those who are really in need within my reach.

After that, i also feel thankful to God for making my life so good. Maybe its God's wake up call for us to be more selfless and share our blessings.

Answer 10

youd have to be a stupid head to feel guilty, ppl work very hard for what they have, also they dont choose to be born in a place thats better off than others, ppl that feel guilty are just pissin away something good, if anything it should jsut make them or i kno i would just be even more grateful to see how bad it can be, then come back to a good life