Individuals have a moral obligation to assist people in need

Why my friend, this country was soley made to escape the harsh environment that Britain made for us. We the people created the constitution to create equallity for all. We the people created this government to speak for us. We the people wanted to provide the common defence, promote the general welfare, ensure domestic tranquility, and enstablish the Untied States of America for freedom for all. And if you believe that the government we created(formed by the people) would lead to a dystopia, that is just a fallacy of hasty generalization. So your saying that we make up our own mind on eveything, but that is not the case. The government influences a great percentage of our thoughts. And even if we come up with our own idea(laws) the government will have its say upon it no matter what. Therefore your attacks are false reasoning. You simply cannot say the government has no influence whatsoever on its people. After all, that is what laws are for, to make sure that we as people stay in line. In my first contention you said that if somebody fled from the accident, they would feel the guilt and sorrow in future references. Also that they knew that it was their moral obligation to assist that person in need. But if he/she did indeed run from the scene on purpose, i doubt he/she is going to have the guilt of not stopping. Same goes for the choking senario. If everyone is staring at the choking victim and doesnt help, they must not feel guilt for not helping.This proves that human can be self cntered and only think about theirselves. There are many reasons why a person might not help. Racism, hate of culture, or dislike of personality may cause that person to not render aid. That is why laws are made to make sure somebody does render aid, whether they like it or not. In my second contention, You stated that not all of our obligations are over-demanding. Think of it this way. Hurricane Sandy devistated the country with over billions of dollars in damage. Now, when this storm was over the horizen, everyone was told to evacuate the area and to leave immediantly. in fear of things being stolen, many stayed to protect the things they love, inspite of the warning. Hours later, Sandy arrived and tore through the costline of New Jersey and shredded the homes of hundereds of thousand people. After the water had calmed, thousands were left on the rooftops of their now damaged house. These Americans did not turn to their neighbors for help. They quickly expected the U.S. military to save them from the crisis and solve the problem. With water levels over 10 feet high, and rapid water currents, none dared to challenge the sea to help one another. They simply waited until government aid came to rescue them. Same goes on every days of our lives. Another example is 911 emergency, a government funded program that saves the lives of everyday people. For any major accident, the people involved immediantly call for assistence from the government. Lets say a house is on fire, and there is a trapped family inside. The human instinct is to call for help(911) and wait for assistance. With over tens of millions of American living in this country, it is easy to understand how staggering the numbers are. After all, for every 3 seconds there is another call entering the call center everyday. Now you said some people are simply without power to help in certain situations. we shall use your elevator example in this case. Now while holding an elevator may be polite, it does not compare to helping someone escape the path to death. As i said ealier, if the person walks away from an accident with no intentions of helping that person whatsoever, then what makes you think that that person is going to feel remorse. Considering that he already has commited a crime for not assisting aid, he/she should have no problem trying to forget and ignore the fact that he didnt stop. We as Americans have given our moral obligations to the government, ever sense this country was created. We have sent representative to speak for us and to make the decisions of right and wrong. The same goes for other countries. China for instance, is a communist ccentral goverment controls the obligations off all of its citizes. Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam have followed and are some of the other communist countries that all decide their moral obligations for their people. Because we have given our obligations to the government, no obligation can arise from us.