Individuals and countries cannot help everyone who needs help in the world, so they should only be concerned about their own communities and countries. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
ESSAY NUMBER 220 FROM OUR BOOK
It is believed by some that governments should only help their own citizens as it is impossible to help everyone. While I agree that governments ought to prioritise their own people, I also believe that they should help countries which are too poor to help themselves.
The main reason why governments should focus on their own citizens first is that if there is a perception that the government is helping other nations at the cost of its citizens, it would create resentment among the citizens. In other words, people might lose faith and protest against their elected government officials if they feel their hard-earned tax money is being spent on helping other countries rather than leading to better facilities and services for them. Another reason is that a government’s ability to help other nations depends upon the taxes and finances it collects, which ultimately depend upon the prosperity of its own society. If its own society is poor, its capacity to help people in other countries would also be limited.
However, I also feel countries and especially rich countries should not turn their back on the underprivileged countries. First, it is the right thing to do from a humanitarian standpoint. Countries that have enough have a moral duty to help those who fail to even meet their basic needs. Secondly, it would be mutually beneficial for the rich to help the poor. Issues such as diseases, extreme weather events, international migration, organised crime, and terrorism have transnational causes. No country can solve these problems ‘by itself’. They need multinational cooperation. The recent Corona pandemic has emphasized the importance of international cooperation even more. Thus, it would be beneficial for not only the poor countries but also the rich countries to help the poor.
In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that although countries should put their own citizens first, I also believe that they should try to help the deprived nations.
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