Altruism and the International Environment

Abstract

My topic is foreign aid, certain of the attitudes that we have towards foreign aid, and what if any moral grounding those attitudes might have. Foreign aid right now is in the news. While it is likely that the most drastic proposals to slash the foreign aid budget will be defeated, there is no denying that some fairly drastic measures are on the table and are being taken rather seriously. Regardless of what happens in Congress this year, and regardless of what our president decides to do about any measures that Congress does adopt, the issue is likely to crop up as important during the next presidential election. While far from the only touchy issue on the contemporary political agenda, American foreign aid seems to strike a raw public nerve. What nerve is this, and why is it so raw?