sinking ships

I am genuinely concerned that, in order for our global civilization to survive, the "elites" of the world will be forced to cut the tether that holds up the poor. If it does not, or cannot, I am even more concerned that the civilization, in all of its parts, will collapse entirely. When the choice is between "ethics" and survival, the former is almost always abandoned for the latter. 

So the question I want to ask is this: if you had to choose between the downfall of our entire civilization (and a return to a global "Dark Ages") or the abandonment of the poor, needy, sick, dying and uneducated, what would you choose?