Us vs. Them

I got this comment in response to my previous post and I think it’s something that merits further discussion and consideration.

“I think AIDS is horrible, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. My question is, why are we spending so much time, money and energy worrying about people in Africa? We’ve got national debt of something like $11 trillion (with a “T”), a house and senate who are spending money like lunatics and whatever special interest group they have to so that they can get support for reelection, and 70% of Americans can’t name even 1 of their state’s Senators. Let’s spend some of that money fixing our own countries problems (like paying off our national debt), THEN worry about Africa. There is no end to the list of needy people and countries, and their terrible problems. If you want to help fight AIDS in Africa, go for it with your own money, but quit pushing politicians to spend MY hard earned tax dollars on it.”

I agree, AIDS is horrible. I also agree our government is terribly inefficient and it squanders money right and left. And national debt isn’t really a great thing, either. The fact is that as a country we’re really not dumping huge amounts of money into helping the problem of AIDS in Africa, particularly relative to the national debt. It’s even less than a drop in the bucket. Also, I don’t have much expertise in economics (any knowledgeable econ people out there care to comment?) but wouldn’t paying off the entirety of our national debt really throw off our economy? Not to mention the fact that it’s probably economically unfeasible to begin with…

Here are some numbers and statistics though:

“The U. S. Global AIDS Coordinator’s mission is to lead implementation of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Emergency Plan/PEFPAR). The Emergency Plan is the largest commitment ever by any nation for an international health initiative dedicated to a single disease — a five-year, $15 billion, multifaceted approach to combating the disease around the world. Please visit www.PEPFAR.gov for additional information regarding the Emergency Plan.”

This is a substantial amount of money, no doubt. But compare it to our debt that our fiscally conservative commentator estimates as “something like 11 trillion.” It’s chump change, really.

This is survey from WorldPublicOpinion.org is interesting and makes a strong point as well:

“More significantly, when Americans are asked how much of their tax dollars they would favor going to Africa, they propose an amount that is far in excess of the actual amount. When the January 2003 PIPA/Knowledge Networks poll asked, “How many of your tax dollars would you be willing to have go to economic and humanitarian aid for African countries?” the median response was $20. This is more than six times the actual amount–in fact, approximately $3 of the median taxpayer’s bill goes to aid to Africa. Sixty-seven percent proposed an amount in excess of $3.” [3a]

For full survey stats, go to:
http://www.americans-world.org/digest/regional_issues/africa/africa3.cfm

So really, this guy is complaining about forking over about three bucks each year to help people in Africa.

Also, I have so admit that I don’t think much of Bush, but he has done something useful by increasing aid to African countries; have a look: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/30/AR2006123000941.html
So go ahead, cry in your tea, fiscal conservatives. In my opinion, it’s money put to good use.

Now, what really bothers me most about this comment is the author’s inherent “us before them” mentality. Are people really so attached to their native country (be it the U.S. or any other) to the point that they identify themselves by their nationality far above and beyond identifying themselves as simply a member of the human race? Is there a perceived threat that people with this attitude associate with giving aid to people in other countries? I don’t see these two problems as even comparable…hmm…national debt, versus death and squalor and suffering that can be alleviated with basic health support and awareness programs. Country issues aside, which is more immediately important? What if the AIDS epidemic was as bad in the US? Would this person still advocate focusing on issues like national debt in that case? If not (which I would suspect to be the case) this infers that the person values individual American lives over those of people in other countries or of other races. This starts to sound a little bit like the logic of a certain little man with a broom mustache, wouldn’t you agree? This brings to mind a quote from the movie Hotel Rwanda. The UN colonel, out of the sheer frustration in explaining why the world will not intervene, says to Paul Rusesabagina, “You’re black. You’re not even a nigger. You’re an African.”

Why is this attitude of “us” and “the other” so predominant? Haven’t we learned from the past? Mankind has one collective future, so every problem that mankind faces should be of universal concern.