In the past, helping others was a “human and cultural duty”. Because they were neighbours, knew each other personally, felt generous, or held religious beliefs, people found those in need themselves and helped directly. That relationship was alive and human. But once institutions like theRelief_Committee and formalcharity organisations took shape, that human relationship became an institutional, formal one. Instead of “me, the individual”, it was now “the institution” that was responsible for identifying and supporting those in need. At first these institutions meant to organise and widen collective responsibility, but little by little a mental shift happened: it was as if responsibility had been “taken from the people” and “handed to the state”.
What was the result? When the performance of these institutions met distrust, or people felt their money was not spent well, neither could the institution be relied on, nor did the individual sense of duty remain. That is:
people do not return to voluntary help as before, and the system has not managed to win enough trust to carry out its duty.
This is where acrisis_of_meaning appears. For example:
“Am I still a member of society? Does the suffering of others concern me? Is helping others still a human matter, or just a personal choice?”
From here we can get to “moral rupture”, “a sense of non-belonging” and “the passage from a culture of cooperation to indifference”.
Related: From order to the appearance of order.