The US Needs to Wake Up and Realize We Are No Longer Compatriots of Just One Country but of an Increasingly More Intimate Global Community

I agree with Singer's ethical argument presented in Chapter Five. I especially think that America needs to realize that we live in "one world" now and that we need to adopt a "moral standard that transcends the nation-state" (153). Singer is correct when arguing that "Our problems are now too intertwined to be well resolved in a system consisting of nation-states, in which people give thir primary, and near-exclusive, loyalty to their own nation-state rather than to the larger global community" (171). Unfortunately, when looking at statistics and other empirical evidence, no other nation seems to be as guilty of national partialty than the United States...

Singer's Reality Check-
All people of the developed nations should be concerned about foreign aid..."When subjected to the test of impartial assessment, there are few strong grounds for giving preference to the interests of one's fellow citizens, and none that can override the obligation that arises whenever we can, at little costs to ourselves, make an absolutely crucial difference to the well-being of another person in real need" (180).

A Sad Story-
Current Assessment on achieving this goal...not so promising, especially in terms of the United States. For example, in 2000, the US only gave .10 percent of GNP (10 cents in every 100 dollars produced by the economy) which was 3.5 billion dollars less than Japan (even though the US economy is about twice the size of Japan's). Also, .10 percent of GNP is 1/7 the goal set by the United Nations, a goal which is accomplished and even surpassed byy Denmark, Sweden and others. Even more depressing, is that the countries that this pathetic .10 percent goes to are often picked solely for political purposes resulting in only about 1/4 of aid going to low-income countries, once again much less than in Japan. While some argue that the US gives alot of private aid, in reality, non-government aid is only about 4 billion which is merely 40 percent of government aid raising the total amount of aid to roughly .14 which is still terrible.

Some Even Sadder Stats-
US investment in private and official development aid annually: 14 billion
AS OPPOSED TO...
Domestic US spending on alcohol annually: 34 billion
Domestic US spending on tobacco annually: 32 billion
" " Non-alcoholic Beverages: 26 billion
" " Entertainment Admission and Fees: 50 billion
Proposed Military Budget for fiscal year 2003: 379 billion

THIS IS APPALLING...OBVIOUSLY AMERICANS REALLY DO NOT FEEL OBLIGATED TO HELP THOSE OUTSIDE OF NATIONAL BOUNDARIES...IN THE WORDS OF SINGER, "These facts are consistent with the claim made at the start of this chapter: despite the lip-service most people pay to human equality, their circle of concern barely extends beyond the boundary of their country" (182).