Rich Countries Need to Help the Poor

Rich Countries Need to Help the Poor

Rich Countries Have an Obligation to Help Poorer Countries

Values such as individualism and nationalism are widely cherished in Western, economically developed countries. Nationalism is the cornerstone of Western idea of nation-state, and the idea of nations pursuing their national self-interest in international affairs is an acceptable truism. Nationalism, however, does not mean that nations should be totally indifferent to the fates of other nations who might be desperately in need of outside help. There are ethical and moral issues that cannot be ignored because of nationalism and individualism. Due to historical and other circumstances, some countries today are extremely poor and the rich countries have an obligation to help them. Moreover, helping poorer countries is not simply a moral issue; it is in the long-term nationalist interests of rich countries to provide poorer countries with aid.

The most immediate concern one might have about poor countries in the developing world is a moral one. Statistics show that people in poor countries are suffering miserably and without rich countries helping them, they might die en masse or continue to suffer from unbearable conditions. For example, consider that 22,000 children die every day because of chronic poverty, according to UNICEF, which stated these children "die quietly in some of the poorest villages earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these multitudes even more invisible in death." Additionally, 27-28% of children in developing countries are considered to be underweight or stunted, not to mention tens of millions of children who do not have access to free drinking war, healthcare, education, and other basic human needs (Shah, 2010). Ignoring a tragedy of this proportion would be sheer callousness.

It should also be mentioned that adults in these countries suffer from the same problems and (psychologically and emotionally) from the inability to provide their children with basic needs. Extreme poverty in these countries leads to a variety of problems such as domestic violence, crime, drug trafficking, substance abuse, racism, sexism, and sometimes even civil wars. According to a report in British Medical Journal, "eight out of 10 of the world's poorest countries are suffering, or have recently suffered, from large scale violent conflict. Wars in developing countries have heavy human, economic, and social costs and are a major cause of poverty and underdevelopment" (Stewart, 2002). There is no doubt that economically stable and rich countries have an obligation to help these countries because ignoring these problems is morally unacceptable.

Many countries in developing countries suffer from poverty for a variety of reasons -- one of them being the legacy of colonial rule imposed by former colonial empires who now are the world's richest countries. For example, the Atlantic slave trade decimated Africa, depriving them off manpower. Colonialism imposed on Africa during the "Scramble for Africa" destroyed native political, economic, and tribal structures; obstructing Africa's long-term development and ultimately cursing them for future inter-tribal and inter-religious conflicts (Rodney, 1981). And according to Kim (2009), the way colonial rulers shaped economic institutions in Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia determined the fate of these regions' economic future. That is, inequality imposed on countries in these regions by European imperialists persisted well into post-colonial era. Basically, modern rich countries share responsibility for extreme poverty in developing nations and therefore today are obliged to help them.

Exploitation of poor countries by rich countries actually in some ways continues today. International economic institutions often impose rules and regulations on developing countries that make their living conditions even worse. According to the UNDP Human Development Report in 2005, the gap between rich and poor countries has been increasing in the last sixty years. The report notes that "the richest 50 individuals in the world have a combined income greater than that of the poorest 416 million. The 2.5 billion people living on less than $2 a day -- 40% of the world's population -- receive only 5% of global income, while 54% of global income goes to the richest 10% of the world's population." The report argues that unjust global trade imposed by the rich countries is the primary cause of global inequality. For example, developing countries cannot compete with rich countries because of agricultural subsidies rich countries grant their farmers and "super farmers" (corporations that work in the agricultural sector) (Makwana, 2006).

Opponents of economic aid to poorer countries argue that it is not rich countries' responsibility to help them because poor countries are responsible for their own conditions. But as the statistics and scholarly analysis show, rich countries bear responsibility for global inequality. It should not also be forgotten that poor countries provide rich countries with cheap raw materials as well as cheap labor force. We enjoy cheaper products in our supermarkets partly thanks to poor countries -- which means that not helping them is not only morally unacceptable but will also hurt us in the future. As Lynsandrou (2011), for instance, powerfully argues, the global financial crisis that began in 2008 was also partly rooted in global inequality. Enormous concentration of wealth at the hands of a small minority disrupted the flow of assets in global markets and institutions, leading to global financial crisis. In short, if rich countries do not address the problem of poverty in developing countries, the problem will eventually hurt all countries in the world.