Whose circus and monkeys are these?

There is a saying that goes, "Not my circus, not my monkeys." Which is the release of responsibility for outcomes in another individual's life. This presumes that resolution of the issue is not in the outsider's control. Therefore, release any thought or concern and go about your day fulfilling your obligations and outcomes. This is the way of thinking many with material success utilize. Focus on making money that's all that matters anyway, right? 

Conversely, on the other side of this plight are the sufferers. Those who are going through it. Those who resent others who do not engage with their pain and suffering and don't help out. There seems to be this competition about who suffers the most and whose suffering should mean more. We as society seem to have created tiers of suffering based on race, class, and political affiliation as well as other things. No actual rules have been written out anywhere but we all seem to have an innate sense of what they are. People want you to care about their pain and relieve it, even if it has nothing directly to do with you. We are affiliated with groups. Sometimes voluntarily and sometimes accidently by circumstances outside of our choosing or control. A labelling of people in broad strokes and terms occurs. Sometimes a person will fit the stereotype of that group. However, people are complex and don't always fit in neat labels.

Do people have the right to be judged for their individual character and abilities? 

All of that to say. What mental, emotional, material load of someone else's struggle are we morally obligated to take on ourselves? If it is 'not my circus, not my moneys' it may seem easy to walk away from it all and go about one's day. The only real problem with that is that it allows the imbalance to continue. At some point the wolf comes to everyone's door and the thing about not doing anything about it when it was someone else's problem, is that when it becomes your problem there isn't anyone willing or able to help you out. So it indeed becomes your circus and monkeys then. 

All people live on a spectrum about how much empathy they have for one another. Biases play a part in decisions of engagement. Being out of sight, out of mind, plays a part. It can be extremely overwhelming to engage in the all the atrocities happening. The genocides, the abuses, natural disasters, the extraction and destruction of the natural world. We curse the billionaire and corporations while simultaneously pumping dollars to them and participating with all labor and resources they need. That's how they got so powerful, individuals didn't do it by themselves. Even evil political leaders didn't do the actions by themselves. Far be it for them to get their hands dirty doing the actual labor. So everyone is a participant on some level in creating the horrors of the day. Where is the line? Of course there are consequences and pain associated with any decision. We don't get to choose whether or not to feel pain only the pain we feel. Yet, what pain can we experience and cause and still be able to look at the person in the mirror and still feel good about it?

So what do you choose? Do you choose the pain of engagement and the reality of what is breaking down in the world in order to fully address the issues with the urgency they deserve. To prioritize the solution over cost or pain associated with it? Or do you choose to pretend life is exactly as it was years ago and keep chugging seeing how long you can push off any consequences impacting your life directly? 

I really don't know the answer. As an empath it is extremely difficult for me to turn away from the pain of others. That being said I have none of the power, resources, or capabilities at this time to make any significant material change in anyone situation. What everyone wants is money. If you don't have tons of money to give them to buy resources and influence what good are you to them?

So this is a thought I am struggling with lately. What are your thoughts on the matter? What are you taking into consideration as you decide for yourself what your circus and monkeys are in the world?