The United States is touted as the most powerful and influential nation in the world.
However, the “make America great again” movement glosses over the way that America became that great nation.
In fact, they depict as foolishness the very qualities that have made America a leader among nations. They scoff at the significant characteristics of an American that include compassion and a will to serve and help others.
Remember the old barn-raising days when all the community came together to build a neighbor’s barn in a day! Or consider the ways Americans have pooled resources, through taxes and insurance premiums, that may then be allocated to those who suffer from climate disasters, ill-health or financial setbacks. Or consider the way Americans, through taxes and personal charity, reach out with compassion to people throughout the world who suffer from poverty, disease and injustice.
All of this was motivated not by personal profit but by the desire to promote the well-being of others in the worldwide neighborhood.
In today’s political environment, helping a neighbor is seen as wasting hard-earned money. In addition, the people who receive U.S. domestic or foreign aid are vilified, depicted as unqualified and undeserving, as if they were gaming the system.
This situation is enforced by taking away the means to care for others. The just-enacted United States budget has cut out many of the resources needed for patriots to facilitate actions of goodwill toward people and nations in need. For example, tax cuts are not the government giving its citizens relief. Tax cuts take away our ability as Americans to give as a citizen community to lift up the disadvantaged.
A survey of the many budget cuts and reductions, reported in the Federal Registry, demonstrate the threat to the humane initiatives that have served our country well. A short list includes major reductions and cuts to International Disaster and Humanitarian Assistance of $3.207 billion; to USAID operations of $2.462 billion; to the Peacekeeping mission of $1.614 billion; to the Global Health program of $6.233 billion; to Food for Peace of $1.619 billion; to Title I and k-12 programs, and other education aid and grants of $10.870 billion; and to Health and Human Services of $28.232 billion.
It is also important to take into account the United States withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2020.
The effects of these cuts and reductions of services are a radical blow to the American core value of altruism. The newly imposed value of MAGA supporters upon the citizenry is egoism: to pursue “American interests above all else.”
The debates over taxes, economy, debt, health care and immigration are a diversion from the core concern: maintaining the compassionate altruistic character of U.S. citizens. The climate of egoism focuses only on the accumulation of power and money. This climate insists that every decision to aid a resident of the United States or aid another country with military or humanitarian support requires a guarantee that the U.S. will receive a financial or power benefit.
This policy destroys trust as it communicates less care for person or country and more determination to gain a reward for any good deeds. Leaders of other nations not only loose trust in the United States but also become cynical, doubting the possibility that U.S. agreements really express concern for the well-being of their countries. If this cycle continues, it will be the death of altruism and the cracking of the foundation of democracy which depends upon trust and goodwill among the citizens.
Altruism may be under threat from the pandering of egoism. However, the egoist’s measure of immediate success, the biggest bang for a buck, does not effectively evaluate programs listed in the Federal Registry, for example.
Helping our neighbors is inefficient or a sign of weakness or failure, as critics would have us believe. Those programs are necessarily long-term movements and processes with successes and failures, learning as they go along.
For its nearly 250 years, United States history is replete with stories of caring for one another and striving for a more perfect union. Altruism has led the way to improving health, fighting hunger, marching for justice, building trusting relationships. As more people unite around this movement the more likely the uninspired transactional ways will falter.
Democracy is not a business with its profits and losses. America flourishes when guided by altruism, the devotion to the welfare of others and a more perfect union.
John Buttrick writes from his Vermont Folk Rocker in his Concord home, Minds Crossing. He can be reached at johndbuttrick@gmail.com