Grey 17 is Missing

[CharlesPhipps]

I'm not trying to put them down, just illustrating even our heroes tend to think of it as a natural state of affairs in their society.

[Madner Kami]

Well, they got enough problems of their own and, honestly, looking at my own life and I suppose this is congruent to many of us, I try to help where I can and I probably have a lot more resources I could share, but during my normal day I think exactly 0 about the homeless or poor and the last thing that comes to my mind is, to take a homeless in to my appartement or give him or her breakfast the next day, even though I probably could easily afford it.
It might be selfish, but at the end of the day, the only person I have any responsibility for is myself and between me spending one third of my day sleeping as a biological necessity, another third earning just enough money to afford a decent life and the remaining third being used to prepare me for work, eat, hygiene and just generally spending time for things I don't want to spend what little time I have left (like beaurocracy), so I can relax and be myself for just 2 or 3 hours of each day, I don't really think I have a moral imperative to invest all that effort into someone else. Doubly so if I pay half my wage as taxes (no joking, 48% of my income vanishes in taxes and governmental retirement funds) for a system that, at least in theory, provides home and food for everyone, even if they can not (lack of available jobs, health issues or flat out age) or don't want to work themselves.

[FaxModem1]

Well, they got enough problems of their own and, honestly, looking at my own life and I suppose this is congruent to many of us, I try to help where I can and I probably have a lot more resources I could share, but during my normal day I think exactly 0 about the homeless or poor and the last thing that comes to my mind is, to take a homeless in to my appartement or give him or her breakfast the next day, even though I probably could easily afford it.
It might be selfish, but at the end of the day, the only person I have any responsibility for is myself and between me spending one third of my day sleeping as a biological necessity, another third earning just enough money to afford a decent life and the remaining third being used to prepare me for work, eat, hygiene and just generally spending time for things I don't want to spend what little time I have left (like beaurocracy), so I can relax and be myself for just 2 or 3 hours of each day, I don't really think I have a moral imperative to invest all that effort into someone else. Doubly so if I pay half my wage as taxes (no joking, 48% of my income vanishes in taxes and governmental retirement funds) for a system that, at least in theory, provides home and food for everyone, even if they can not (lack of available jobs, health issues or flat out age) or don't want to work themselves.

Difference is, I assume, that you aren't leader of the equivalent of a small city, with the freedom to change how that town operates based on your authority. Whether he likes it or not, Sheridan does have the power over those residing in Babylon 5. And yes, he is facing both the Shadows and Earth. But then, why not prove his point even better, about how separate from the Shadow philosophy of conflict bringing strength, and Earth's lying about their homeless problem, and apathy before that, he can do something about it.

There was a plot point in Acts of Sacrifice that Babylon 5 has way too much food and medical supplies to put to use, so they give it to the Narn as a way to smuggle Narn refugees. Is that before or after you forget about the homeless population you have residing on several decks of your station?

Heck, could he at least do something about the criminal syndicates that take advantage of their apathy and run the poor sections of the station and continue to exist long past his departure of Babylon 5? There'd have to be something he can do besides saying, "My plate's too full, that's why I continually look for problems to solve, except this one. This one isn't one I want to look at."

Sheridan may be concerned with his own survival, but he clearly has enough resources to wage two wars, and seemingly none for the ghettos on his own station.

[Riedquat]

No matter how good the system it won't work for all and some will always slip through the cracks. A Star Trek like work that paints a future where that isn't true sounds great but unfortunately isn't terribly convincing. On the other hand there's a danger of using that as an excuse to sort out situations which should need sorting. Does B5 paint a convincing picture of that situation, given its premise? Only to a degree IMO, I'd expect some of that but we see an awful lot of people who have fallen through those cracks. It's still possible to argue that there's some observer bias going on though (people living decent, comfortable lives don't make interesting stories).

[Madner Kami]

One could make a really nasty and quite social-darwinist observation: Less than a generation ago, all the upstanding people who were willing to sacrifice and were willing to step forward (and all the brightest the military did draft in the first place), died in a war of genocide that they were loosing. What's left are, for the most part, politicians, crooks and ne'er do wells, who refused to fight or stand up for themselves in the first place.