lies we tell ourselves

Suddenly recalled a scene from Hotel Rwanda between Don Cheadle and Joaquin Phoenix playing Paul Rusesabagina and Jack Daglish respectively.
Paul thanks Jack for filming the genocide in his country to show to the world, believing that people will come to their aid after seeing it. Jack replies:
"I think if people see this footage, they'll say 'Oh, my God, that's horrible', and then they'll go on eating their dinners."
It got me to thinking...How often do we see terrible things happening in the world around us on the television as we sit comfortably in our homes? We remark about how sad it is, how horrible it is...and carry on with our lives as if it never happened, not giving anything more than a passing thought to it.
It's just like how I know even though I'm saying this, I'm not going to do anything about it. I know it's really selfish of me, but I can't help thinking thank goodness it isn't happening to me or mine. And let's face it, we're not saints. It's not in us to sacrifice everything for complete strangers. So we do the occasional charity work, the stupid flag-selling (which I'm completely against, by the way, but story for another day), the fund raisers. It might make us feel minutely better, the whole "a little bit goes a long way" deal. But seriously. Is that ever enough? Oh, the lies we tell ourselves.
Let's face it. Can you give up your home, your bed, your privacy, your life, to help another person? I know I can't. Sorry if that makes you think less of me, but if you were really honest with yourself, could you do it? If you can say without a doubt that you would, then why aren't you doing it now?