We Need to Save Ourselves Before We Try to Save the World

Commentary by
Patrick M McCormick
Dec 4, 2010

The national press is buzzing about “The report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility”. Every politician and every News Commentator has an opinion. I agree that America needs to get its financial house in order. We need a sensible strategy for eliminating our enormous deficit. It is the most important problem our leaders have to address.

Many want to make huge cuts in medical benefits and social security. Many desire to reduce our social safety net; unemployment, food stamps, welfare, and educational assistance. Personally, I think this is the wrong road to travel. We elect our leaders so they may serve and protect the citizens of their individual districts. We elect them to protect and serve US, the citizens of the United States.

Somehow, our senators, congressional representatives and presidents have twisted this obligation to protect US into a global philosophy where the needs of other nations come before the needs of American Citizens. We give huge donations to hundreds of foreign countries while people in this country are out of work and hungry and in many cases, losing their homes.

In order to stimulate the economies of hundreds of foreign countries, Our leadership has allowed the economy of our country to take a back seat and suffer. This has allowed, in part, for an enormous financial trade imbalance.

We maintain standing armies in many foreign lands, when those countries could, and should, defend themselves. If we brought our troops home, they could protect our boarders and airports as part of their training.

We have allowed whole industries vital to our national defense to move overseas. Not only has this cost jobs for Americans, it has put US at risk.

We are waging two unjust wars in countries where we stand to gain nothing that will repay the tremendous waste of our resources. We need to end those wars now and use those resources to help rebuild America.

The first and foremost responsibility of our leaders is to make our own economy well and attend to the needs of our people. We cannot remain a world power if our own society crumbles.

How can it be better to wage war than to provide for the needs of our own citizens? People that desire to cut social services while we continue to wage war are morally corrupt. How can killing people be a better thing than curing them or feeding them while they are out of work?

It is time for all Americans to rise up, write their elected officials and demand that they solve our problems before they attempt to solve the problems of other nations. We no longer have the resources to “Save the World”; we need to use what we have left to “Save Ourselves”.