[setanta]

I've read it before somewhere - can't remember exactly where - but it goes something like the value of a society can be measured in how it chooses to treat it's poor, weak, damaged or unconnected.

It's not an exact quote because I think there's many variations on it and I'm probably paraphrasing but, in any case, I think it's a very useful statement to remember when you're dealing with situations like this.