do i want to contribute to social equality? (not so sure, the world was never meant to be a fair place to start with)
do i want to contribute to social inequality? (well, i don't necessarily want to actively make it more unequal, but if we were to take from the rich and redistribute to the poor, that wouldn't be fair. the rich got there via hard work and brains. ok, maybe luck too, but they worked harder and were smarter than the poor in any case. the poor had unequal opportunities? it's impractical to get everyone on the same starting line - so it's a reality we need to live with?)
do i want to contribute to justice? (our society has laws, and in any case the universe has its own way of doling out justice right? i don't necessarily have to get involved)
do i want to contribute to injustice? (well, no, but only up to a point. but if not buying really expensive fair trade coffee contributes to injustice for farmers, there's only so much i can do)
do i want to contribute to fairness? (now, that's different from justice and equality. so i would go for fairness. fairness is good. how far am i willing to go? as far as i can, as long nothing is taken away from me that i have rightfully earned. what's rightfully earned? anything that i earned legitimately, that is not at the expense of others)
do i want to contribute to unfairness? (definitely no, unfairness is very bad, and if i can avoid it, i don't want to make the world more unfair than it already is. how is unfairness different from injustice? injustices are these big complicated matters that i alone will have little or no effect. unfairness is much easier to deal with, and in a way, i come across it every day)
but if i do nothing, am i neither contributing to equality nor inequality, justice nor injustice, fairness nor unfairness? does non-action make me blameless?
when does the line cross from simple indifference to willful ignorance? in short, does moral responsibility exist? and how far does one go even if i accept there should be some degree of such?
the standard answer is however much is necessary for us to live in good conscience. 只要对得住良心。
maybe, the level of this conscience isn't something we can simply control. we go through our lives, experiences, think our own thoughts - and our minds arrive at some appropriate level of morality that suits us. rather than something to aspire to, it's something that emerges out of our lives?
