Florence 1

Sandra Florence
September 9, 2015
PHIL-2300-F15-Drexler
Professor Jane Drexler
The Good and the Right: Omelas
The town of Omelas is a metaphor of the Greatest Happiness Principle of Utilitarianism, because for reasons
that are not explained, this child must live in a tortured existence in order for the rest of the society to live in
happiness. According to the Utilitarian principle, the sacrifice of this poor child justifies the end result of
happiness for many.
I was absolutely haunted by this short story. I know its fiction and symbolic, but I cant imagine a society that
knows about the tortured child and either lives with it or walks away. Why are those the only two choices? What
about doing something to help the child? Who creates a scenario where you must accept this completely
immoral behavior in order to be happy?
At first, I couldnt get past my initial reaction thinking the situation in Omelas was simply absurd. Then I started to
think about how this applies to our society and more personally to me. After searching the internet, Ive decided I
live in a protected bubble of my own creation. I have a great life. I spend my existence taking care of my family,
career and church responsibilities. Its embarrassing to admit that I have never thought much outside of that
triangle. At what price do I enjoy this life? I was shocked to learn about the massive amount of child labor used
to produce the things we consume like soccer balls, clothing and athletic shoes (to name a few). Millions and
millions of children are effected.
In many of these countries,
children dont go to school
they work.
I recognize that I am really
exposing myself here, but I love
diamonds. Over the years, I
have spent more on single
stones than most people pay for
their cars. Until this class, I had
absolutely no idea that a large
portion of diamonds were mined by slave labor. I will never look at diamonds the same way again.

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Its embarrassing to admit how ill-informed I am, but
frankly, I dont think Im alone. Unless you consciously
pursue a knowledge about where and how things
come from it is easy to live in ignorance. Those that
market the things we consume arent going to
advertise the methods used to obtain those items.
I have been living a Utilitarian existence completely
focused on the end without consideration for the
means to that end. So now what? I will most likely
never purchase another diamond. But what will that solve? I am not condoning the conditions that exist in the
African mines, but if we all stop purchasing diamonds, how will they survive? It will take far more that simply
cutting off the demand. Its frankly overwhelming to think about what could be done to solve their plight.
This brings me back to Omelas. Its that why people walk away? Is it because they have no idea how to solve
the problem? They dont want to enjoy the utopian existence that exists on the condition of the suffering of a
child, but they also dont know how to solve the childs plight. So where are they headed? Im guessing to a
society based on deontology. A society where respect and dignity rule. A society where it would be immoral to
violate their own and others humanity.
Works Cited
guest3da874. Diamond Industry in Africa. 17 December 2007. Linkedin Slideshare Image. 8 September 2015.
OCOLLINS38. Child Labor Bloging About Child Labor Around the World. 23 May 2013. Blog Image. 8
September 2015.