Cloth diapers and the limits of moral responsibility
To Rabbi Michi, have a good week!
The birth of my daughter has once again raised a question that comes up again and again in my mind from time to time in different guises, mainly in the areas of environmental quality, but not only, and this time in the form of cloth diapers. As we know, diapers are significant factors in the increase in environmental waste because their decomposition time takes hundreds of years. Therefore, in recent years, there has been an ecological call to use cloth diapers (not the ones from the Mandate era, but innovative and comfortable ones, etc., etc.). This may sound like a silly example, but as I said, it stems from a fundamental question – what is the limit of my moral responsibility. This is something that is certainly a “departure from the norm”, so it can be replaced with dozens of other questions – recycling, vegetarianism and veganism, concern for citizens suffering from hunger and disease in many parts of the globe, buying cheap products that are produced under conditions of coercion and slavery. Here, the question begins – should I “depart from the norm”? I feel like many people, and sometimes I do too, have some basic instinct that if it’s not customary then there’s no need to bother about it. That there’s some “inner rhythm” to the world and that I’m not responsible for everything.
In any case, let’s assume that I do this, since it is a small and private act that does not involve much hassle and will only raise a few eyebrows, and nothing more. Then the question arises – so what. After all, if only I do this, the impact on the environment/issue in question will be extremely poor. According to the categorical imperative and basic sense of morality, in order for the desired change to actually happen, I must actively work towards it by persuading and mobilizing the masses, by changing policies. I am not familiar with the issues, but I know that from a halakhic perspective there are restrictions on the scope of a person’s responsibility in fulfilling a commandment (rape, one-third of wealth, your life comes before your friend’s life, etc.), but are they also relevant in the matter of Didan? We supposedly live our lives as usual, study law or computer engineering and sit down to watch Netflix in the evening, waiting for someone to change the norm regarding the environment/animals/African citizens so that the situation will change, but in the meantime the world continues to get polluted, the animals continue to suffer, and the citizens of Africa continue to die. It is clear to me that the general situation is indeed improving, but the pace is quite slow compared to the capabilities we have. How much do I need to act morally – even if it causes me to lose my status in society, my friends, my money, my family, my personal dreams, etc., etc.? Maybe I am simply not brave and serious enough? Ostensibly, if we were all to stand up and act on what society today considers “extreme,” the norm itself would change and what was extreme yesterday would be considered normal today.
I hope I was clear enough, I would love to hear your opinion.
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