The Ethical Tightrope

Let me start this article with a disclaimer: I do not think it is wrong to provide aid to a country that was hit by a natural disaster. Those with relatives in Chile or Haiti have my deepest sympathies.

This article's main purpose is to address the impact on giving aid to other countries, while disregarding our own economy and domestic disaster response effectiveness.

Does anyone know what our national debt is? We have already managed to break the $12 trillion mark. That number is so large that a basic calculator can't hold it.

The United States donated $100 million to Haiti, and there is talk of another $100 million or more for Chili.

One can't help but wonder where all the money is coming from. America doesn't have enough money to throw so much aid at every foreign conflict and natural disaster that occurs.

I know that the people who were affected by these events may disagree, but the numbers make a strong point.

Consider someone with a shopping addiction. They keep spending because their credit cards won't ever tell them to stop. Eventually, their debt gets so large that the credit card companies will cut their spending and go after their money.

The same is true of the United States. Japan owns the majority of U.S. foreign debt. What do you think will happen when the international community needs to collect? The way I picture it, it'll probably look like a scene in Scarface.

So we have enormous debt, but we want to provide aid. It's apparently our obligation, since the United States is an international super-power.

But when did the United States become the mother of the world? There are many countries capable of shouldering their share of the financial aid burden, but America, nonetheless, pledges $100 million like it's water.

You know where the money will come from? It's coming out of your pockets — your school programs, your health care reform bill (which may never get passed), your governmental programs to help children and the elderly, and so much more.

You think I'm making this up? Student MetroCards are being taken away! The health care bill that everyone thinks will save the day may never leave Capitol Hill, partially due to many politicians' concerns about the budget. If it does get passed, I can guarantee you that it won't be what everyone expects it to be. 

I'm not saying that America should just cut off all aid — that would be monstrous.

But when the 10th ward isn't even rebuilt fully in Louisiana, when children children across the Unite States are receiving inadequate education, and when the impoverished are making up an ever-larger percent of this country, foreign aid is the last thing people should worry about.

Publicly-funded charities really came through for Haiti, and I am sure that people are doing everything they can to give Chile aid, but that's how it's supposed to go.

We can't rely on the government to hold the world's hand and guide it through everything, because then domestic programs start suffering. I think a shift in priorities is in order and, for everyone's sake, it had better happen soon.