Resolved: Individuals have a moral obligation to assist people in need.

This is my first time writing a speech. Please give constructive criticism Resolved: Individuals have a moral obligation to assist people in need. "Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world." It is because I agree with the words of Howard Zinn that I stand Resolved: Individuals have a moral obligation to assist people in need. Before we begin I would like to offer the following Moral Obligation- an obligation arising out of considerations of right and wrong- Oxford Dictionary. Moral- of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior- Websterï¿½€™s dictionary. Obligation- an act or course of action to which a person is morally or legally bound- Oxford Dictionary Assist - An act of help, typically by providing money Need-Require (something) because it is essential or very important. My core value will be Altruism (Unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness), along with Cosmopolitanism (Cosmopolitanism is the ideology that all kinds of human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality), and Human dignity( justifies a moral obligation to assist fellow human beings). Contention 1: Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself. If you were homeless, sick, and old wouldn't you want individuals to have a moral obligation to assist you. Would you just hope someone would be altruistic enough and help you. These are the type of scenarios many people are in today, and the only reason any action is taken upon is because of their own moral obligation to do so. Without these moralityï¿½€™s we would have no sane in this world, we would be depending on only individuals own ideas of morality and there would be no obligation to do so. Society would consist of selfness and egoism Contention 2: Our brains are designed to help others. Studies have shown that the human brain responds positively to altruistic actions. According to Journalist at the Washington Post Shankar Vedantam, Grafman and others [neuroscientists at the National Institutes of Health] are using brain imaging and psychological experiments to study whether the brain has a built-in moral compass. The results are showing, unexpectedly, that many aspects of morality appear to be hard-wired in the brain. The brain operates in such a way that it is part of our biology ï¿½€œto assist people in need.ï¿½€ï¿½ Our moral obligation is based on our conscience, and this study shows that our conscience is innate to human beings. Therefore, altruism is inherent to human beings, and individuals have a moral obligation to assist people in need. Contention 3: The lack of a moral obligation leads to the bystander effect. Journalist at CNN Stephanie Chen writes, Under the bystander effect, experts say that the larger the number of people involved in a situation, the less will get done. "If you are in a crowd and you look and see that everyone is doing nothing, then doing nothing becomes the norm." explains Drew Carberry, a director at the National Council on Crime Prevention. Carberry said witnesses can be less likely to report a crime because they reinforce each other with the notion that reporting the crime isn't necessary. The responsibility among the group becomes diffused. If we do not have a moral obligation to assist those in need, then the bystander effect occurs, and terrible crimes go unreported. The moral obligation not only exists, but is needed for action to occur that will stop these crimes. Without the moral obligation, crimes will continue to occur unstopped. The best example for this contention is the Holocaust; (Diffusion of responsibility), Nazi soldiers would just state ï¿½€œWe are just following ordersï¿½€ï¿½ in the process of killing millions. And it is for these Reasons I stand in Affirmation.