Do moral obligations only extend as far as your country's borders?

[texan1]

We are all human beings sharing this planet, and yet it seems the basic needs and civil rights of people outside of one's country don't really matter that much.

For example, here in the United States we have extreme wealth. We hog a lot of the oil from all over the world to fuel our economy and our lifestyle. Even people in the lower income brackets live like kings and queens compared to the poorest people in India and Africa for example. We have enough resources on this planet to make sure all children have enough food to eat. Do we have a moral obligation to provide for them?

Sometimes I think if there is a God judging me, then when I get to heaven he'll say "why on earth were you taking baths everyday and drinking 4 dollar lattes while so many children in the world are without food and clean water??? what the heck is the problem with you Americans?"

 

[Phasmid]

I think a lot of it is due to our societies values and method of education. From school age we're brought up to be in competition with each other to achieve more wealth. Those who don't achieve this are looked down upon by some people. In the same way, we may not think of foreign people, or even the poor in our own countries, since we're too busy trying to get ahead outselves.

You can almost see this in some forms of "comedy". Africans and homeless people are often the subject of ridicule in shows such as South Park, or in stand up routines.

Here in the UK we have this national event called, "Comic Relief". The BBC hosts a series of comic sketches and shows with clips of celebrities visiting parts of Africa. You get a mixture of laughter, sorrow and compassion all in one night. They ask for donations throughout the night's entertainment, then at the end we see the total that the UK population has managed to raise for charity. I think this is an important national even, because it just makes us stop... and be still for a moment, and then we SEE the suffering going on in the world and we feel compelled to help. In that moment, we're not caught up in the rat race, we're focussed completely on the suffering of others.

So I think we have a moral obligation to wake up and realise the state of the world - to see it and think about it and DO something about it. Not merely accept it as always being the way it is.

 

[Sunstone]

Moral obligations of some sort extend beyond borders because people living in one country can have an impact on people living elsewhere.

 

[autonomous1one1]

Greetings. One should treat all peoples as one - as oneself - regardless of borders.

There have been emails to the US President Elect to the effect of having a vision of all peoples in the world. You may have caught his statement in the Grant Park acceptance speech "...And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand." Hopefully, the U.S. can add to the billions it already gives to foreign aid in some of the needy places to match our promises.

Here are a couple of web sites that show aid of all countries in 2005 and 2006. Not sure what aid will add to in 2008 with all the world's economic problems.

US and Foreign Aid Assistance — Global Issues
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

 

[Wandered Off]

If all the money we give is borrowed, is it still moral?

 

[Zephyr]

Not your country, but your nation. Beyond that it's still good to be kind and moral anyways, but I'm not ashamed to say that I see it as less critical.

 

[texan1]

If all the money we give is borrowed, is it still moral?

Is the US in particular giving away borrowed money? Or are you just asking a general question?

 

[Wandered Off]

Yes and yes.

 

[texan1]

Yes and yes.

What borrowed money is the US giving away? Do you mean money loaned from other countries? Or tax money collected from its citizens? Sorry to keep answering with questions, but I'm kind of slow and just want to be clear what you mean....

 

[Wandered Off]

The US is the world's largest debtor nation. The latest annual budget submitted to Congress is not all that far from one trillion (T!) in the red. That's how far we are from balancing the budget, not counting the national debt of over ten trillion dollars and increasing at over 3 billion dollars a day.

It's borrowed from our children - future US citizens by way of the Federal Reserve, Japan, China, and several other countries.

 

[texan1]

The US is the world's largest debtor nation. The latest annual budget submitted to Congress is not all that far from one trillion (T!) in the red. That's how far we are from balancing the budget, not counting the national debt of over ten trillion dollars and increasing at over 3 billion dollars a day.

It's borrowed from our children - future US citizens by way of the Federal Reserve, Japan, China, and several other countries.

Good point, and related I think. We enjoy such a high standard of living here, but perhaps we are actually living above our means? Going in debt because of our excessive, consumer driven lifestyle perhaps?

Do you think it's immoral to borrow this kind of money to say, bail out large corporations and CEOs while there are children who don't have enough to eat?

 

[Wandered Off]

We enjoy such a high standard of living here, but perhaps we are actually living above our means? Going in debt because of our excessive, consumer driven lifestyle perhaps?

I agree. There is also a disconnect between what we do individually and as a country. For example, you and I may be living within our means, but if the government decides to bail out companies for incompetent management decisions, it will have to borrow money even if you and I don't. That's where we get to the distinction when people claim that the US is a "wealthy" country. The government is definitely living beyond its means, and massive bailouts and other spending will tip the country into insolvency, IMO. And our politicians promise even more spending because that gets votes.

Do you think it's immoral to borrow this kind of money to say, bail out large corporations and CEOs while there are children who don't have enough to eat?

I do indeed.