"When a person or group of people lack a particular good, others will sometimes act in solidarity with them by depriving themselves of that good too. For example, while leading his army through the desert, Alexander the Great is fabled to have refused a helmet filled with water, preferring to undergo the soldiers' suffering with them than to accept something which they couldn't have."
"Or again, imagine that a group of soldiers has been captured as prisoners of war. After some weeks, one of the POWs is approached and offered early release, as his father is a high-ranking officer. Yet he refuses, choosing to remain captive with his fellow soldiers. (As some readers may recognize, this example is based on the experiences of the late Senator John McCain during his service in the Vietnam War.)"
"Here's one last example. In the 1940's, an Indian woman-call her 'KC'-is travelling across the American South by train. At a stop, the train conductor informs her that she is seated in a carriage reserved for White passengers. However, thinking that she does not look Black, he asks her where she is from. KC replies, "I am a colored woman," and is consequently ejected from the carriage."
People sometimes express solidarity by depriving themselves of goods that others lack. Examples include Alexander refusing water to share soldiers' suffering, a prisoner of war declining early release to remain with comrades, and an Indian woman asserting "I am a colored woman" and accepting ejection to stand with Black passengers. Such self-deprivation can appear morally praiseworthy while worsening overall outcomes. The puzzling feature is that actors sometimes knowingly forego benefits despite understanding that their sacrifice will not improve others' conditions or change the distribution of the good.
Read at Apaonline
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