Trying to be the devil's advocate...

My initial response to this question was… yeah, DUH! Growing up in one of the most “hippy” infested parts of the country, my whole deal is to spread the love. Butttttt, I’m gonna try a little bit of the devil’s advocate here just to challenge myself and also slightly for the sake of sarcasm. I’ll probably cringe about 67 times while writing this, but it’s good to get your head around both sides of the argument.

No, powerful countries should not look after the interests of other less-powerful countries and should feel no obligation to these countries. Survival of the fittest has worked long enough, why stop now? If every country looks out for itself and doesn’t have to worry about the well-being of other countries, then more will be accomplished and more individual citizens of each nation will have their needs met. Each country should focus on bettering the lives of its own people instead of thinking about the world population. After all, the people elect their government for themselves, not for the people dying in Darfur. Why would we want our tax money going toward causes that aren’t directly relevant to our fellow countrymen and ourselves?

I haven’t discussed power yet… what does it mean to be powerful? In terms of the United States (which is more or less recognized as a world power) it basically means that we could take over your country at any point and without reason if we so desired. We have the allies, the money, the arms, and the people to crush other countries upon a whim. The United States certainly did not get this power without hard work and determination, though. So if we can do it, (create the famous “American dream” of building oneself up from the bottom to the top), what is stopping other less powerful countries from doing the same?! It’s not like we received huge amounts of aid from France while fighting for our rights against Britain or anything… why would other countries need help to prosper?

As for human rights issues, we should probably just let every government take care of these problems themselves. If powerful countries get involved and start telling the less powerful government how to handle the situation then there will probably just be more unnecessary conflict. Powerful countries should not provide a country like Sudan with aid because that is the job of Sudanese leaders. It is each governments duty to do what they see fit for their people. Powerful countries should not be obligated to help out other countries in need. If all countries started sharing the wealth and prosperity then, god forbid, we would end up with a communistic world. It’s not like all people are actually created equal or anything…

Ughhh… Now, for the sake of my sanity I need to stop. I pretty much disagree with everything I just said. You get the point, though. I am privileged to be able to call myself an American, but not everyone was lucky enough to be born with this innate title. We are all humans so we should look after each other! Not to say that everyone should be involved with everyone else's business, just that when someone needs a helping hand it is the responsibility of those capable to give a hand!

Haha so yeah I guess the devil's advocate idea was not so successful... you should try it sometime though guys, it's so annoying that it completely reinforces your original opinion.