Can a person learn to be of assistance to others? Do you believe "Something Can Be Done About It"?

I agree. I believe there are organizations and people doing something about it, albeit without the benefit of Scn, but nevertheless trying: peace corps, childrens' organizations, UNICEF to name a few. But many more, mostly Americans, could learn from the rest of the world, regarding aiding the homeless and infirm, the elderly and medical insurance. The USA's current method of "help" by invading countries and bending them to our will, is not helping. But I digress....

Fortunately, I'm not apathetic about help. It matters.

To what end? Why does it matter?

What difference will what you do today matter in 10 years, 1,000 years or 1,000,000,000,000 years?

You are a fluke of the universe. You have no right to be here. (Monty Python) You do NOT have the right to be conscience of your existence or to claim to be moral.

E=mc^2 has not one drop of morality in it. Where in the survival of the fittest religion can self sacrifice for the less fit exist?

All intellectual endeavors are temporary because being conscience of one's existance is not supported by the equation E=mc^2 ...unless you what to prove that matter, vacuums and anti-matter have a state of conscienceness.

Intellectual achievement only brings satisfaction if the person chooses to give that satisfaction. Therefore, there is no lasting difference between those we call geniuses and those we call morons.

Likewise, because of the temporary nature of intelligence, the pursuit of knowledge is no more than the equivalent of masturbation….a cheap thrill which one has to give him/her self since achieving all types of knowledge doesn’t yield the same amount of pleasure.

So the intellectual is no different than the person who devotes his/her life for world peace who is no different than say a Hilter or Genghis Khan or those responsible for Japan's unit 731 or Stalin or Nero. There is no objective base to evaluate morality as all truth is subjective on the person doing the evaluation and everyone's circumstances are constantly changing making any conclusion meaningless.

You mention courage as the key to your answer. Since there is no hope that what is being done will change anything, from what will courage be mustered or sustained?

So let's get drunk to dull all the heartache and tears until we feel the icy embrace of death as the world moves on to to a different look of the same old stuff...not better....not worse....not cognitive of mankind attempts to build a sandcastle before the rising tide of meaninglessness and hopelessness. All is just chasing after the wind.

Edit: James M, you digress because you fail to recognize an invader. Historically, you are invaded when millions of people come in to your country and demand what rightfully belongs to the citizens. So if those coming into the US were pumping billions of dollars into our country and working with our government to make our country more productive and a safer place, I would welcome such an invasion. I would love it if someone would topple our government so the voice of the people would could be heard. Historically, there is only one country that has ever been so generous.