The Borgen Project Podcast Episode 4: Top 5 Reasons the U.S. Should Address Global Poverty

In the latest episode of The Borgen Project Podcast, we explore the many benefits of investing in foreign assistance. Improving the human condition and addressing extreme poverty is surprisingly easy to do. We know that hunger was cut in half globally over the past 20 years, and we know that more kids are in school today than in any other time period in history.

At The Borgen Project, we fight for the world’s poor and work to write preventable wrongs. But it’s crucial for Americans to know that improving life for those struggling to survive is incredibly important to improving life in the United States as well. These five have many reasons why foreign policy should be focused on improving living conditions.

 

Listen to the latest podcast episode from The Borgen Project below.

 

 

Top 5 Reasons the U.S. Should Address Global Poverty

  1. National security: Since 9/11, nearly every Secretary of Defense has wanted to see the U.S. do more to address extreme poverty. The 2002 National Security Strategy of the Bush administration said it best — a world where some live in comfort and plenty while half the human race lives on less than $2 a day is neither just nor stable. The administration noted that poverty doesn’t make poor people into terrorists and murderers. But poverty does make weak states vulnerable to terrorist networks and drug cartels. The 9/11 Commission report also pointed out that when people lose hope when societies break down when countries fragment the breeding grounds for terrorism or created backward economic policies and repressive political regimes slip into societies that are without hope, general and future Secretary of Defense James “Mad Dog” Mattis famously proclaimed, “if the State Department funding gets cut, then I need to buy more weapons.” Military leaders have always recognized that it’s cheaper to improve the human condition than it is to try to solve messes with expensive weapons and war.
  2. Jobs, jobs, jobs: We all do better when we all do better. With 95% of the world’s population living outside of the United States, it goes without saying that our own economy improves when other countries transition from impoverished to middle class. Foreign Policy Magazine described the world’s poor as the largest untapped market on Earth. Helping people transition from barely surviving to becoming consumers of U.S. goods and products is in the economic interest of the United States. From toothpaste to tractors, U.S. companies and farmers are currently bringing billions of dollars into the U.S. economy by selling their products to people overseas. Nearly all of the United States’ top trading partners are countries that once received foreign assistance from the U.S.
  3. Immigration: Since the beginning of time, it’s been human nature for people to go where they have the best chance for survival. As long as there are people barely surviving, there will be people attempting to make a better life for themselves in the United States and other stable nations. The way our laws are currently written, it’s nearly impossible for a poor person from a developing country to get legal entry into the United States. Addressing the abject poverty and brutality that forces people to flee their homeland is crucial for addressing illegal immigration.
  4. The environment and overpopulation: While wealthy countries consume far more of the world’s resources than poor countries, poverty and its impact on the environment remains detrimental. In impoverished nations, overpopulation, deforestation and rampant pollution are all symptoms of basic human needs not being met.
  5. American values: It goes without saying that it is morally wrong to allow 22,000 children to die every day when we have the ability to prevent it. Few values are as core to the soul of Americans than the belief that the United States should be the world’s leader when it comes to improving conditions for the struggling masses. This ideology crosses party lines, from CEOs to military leaders to environmentalists, a diverse range of people has joined efforts to push Congress to address global poverty. Their motives vary, but they all understand that extreme poverty is a root cause of many other issues.

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