The United States in Jeopardy
Within the current United States, there is an economic crisis. A crisis, in which the foundation is attributed to foreign aid through multiple wars. With Hardin's perspective in mind, it is easy to see that we should pull out of these wars and defend our own economic security. However, is it our moral duty to help form and sustain democracy in these countries? Gandhi would believe so, yet personally, I feel that morality has begun to restrict our overall well-being. We have spent in excess of three trillion dollars on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as thirteen billion dollars annually on foreign aid. Consider that the recent economic bailout package was 700-billion dollars, if our country still possessed the three trillion that we spent on the wars in the middle east, along with the thirteen billion we have annually spent on foreign aid, the economic crisis might not be as prevalent, if at all even present. The economic crisis would be essentially a fear of imagination, and our country would continue to be prosperous and respected. With respect to our current economy and domestic well being, I believe that our country should altogether cut foreign aid, and return to a practice of partial isolationism, which was practiced in pre World War II times.
Consider Hardin's example of the lifeboat; it is essentially a perfect analogy for the current fiscal situation. The lifeboat represents the United States; it is stable, and able to keep on its own. Those already aboard the boat are other fiscally responsible countries such as France or Germany. The countries in the ocean are third world countries such as Darfur or the Sudan. I classify the billions of dollars in foreign aid that the U.S. hands out each year as a small leak in the raft, and if any more countries are welcomed aboard the raft, the leak will widen, and the raft will eventually sink. Morally, we feel obligated to continually aid...