Eugene Debs Brother's Keeper Analysis

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Moral obligation carries a variety of meanings but it’s simply means a duty which one owns to another and needs to act upon it. “Brother’s keeper” was one famous speech created by Eugene Debs at Girard Kansas, 1908. Eugene Debs was an American political leader who was commonly known as a socialist. He focuses the pain that people have to endure and states that we should have the moral to help. Eugene Debs’s statement emphasizes collectivism and others have moral obligation to help others who are in need. Eugene Debs’s argument may be true in some cases, although most of the time we would help others if it does not cause harm to us. During the industrialization, Debs made his “Brother’s keeper” speech. Child labor was one huge event that occurred throughout American history during the industrialization. According to Child Labor in America, children were forced to work in factories since they are small to fit in small spaces. Child laborers often work for long hours and little paid due to the fact that they are easy to either manage or control by adults. They had to work in factories with poor conditions and especially dangerous for children. Due to these historical examples, moral obligation of a society may not fail to …show more content…

Do we want to assist others or it is because of our grim emotions? Philip Kain, professor of Philosophy at Santa Clara University, who wrote “understanding guilt”, explains that people act upon others due to their guilt. Kain states. “98% of people are affected by guilt and act upon”, which means people only help since they are affected by guilt. Not only that, he also explains that “ Guilt is why people assist others, not moral obligation”. People tend to help others due to the fact that they want to but they feel like they have to. It is not the moral obligation that controls the problem but understanding it compels to assist