The Case Against Helping the Poor Research Paper

The Case Against Helping the Poor - Research Paper Example Others claim that developing nations like those in Africa have serious problems with democracy, and should not be supported, but those who support foreign aid say that supporting these countries provides many benefits to the whole world. Ultimately, Hardin’s view of Earth as a lifeboat is as unrealistic as the view of Spaceship Earth he dislikes. Since assisting developing countries now will lead to their being able to support the rest of the planet later, there is a greater benefit to supporting foreign aid than trying to destroy it. According to Darren Weeks and others, one of the most damaging forms of foreign aid is the globalization of America’s economy as seen in free trade agreements which cost America jobs. Weeks claims that this kind of agreement has been directly responsible for leading America into the recession, and that export agreements that benefit â€Å"impoverished Central American countries† where people can’t buy things can not possibly be â€Å"in the best interest of American citizens and workers† (Weeks). In fact, Weeks makes an impassioned argument that this kind of trade agreement is ruining the country entirely, and that it will soon result in â€Å"unemployment in America, the loss of our jobs, the shrinking of the American way of life, the eradication of our freedom to travel, the elimination of the middle class† (Weeks). According to this view, foreign aid is not limited to just donations and charity, but to trade agreements which benefit poorer count ries at the expense of richer ones. These trade agreements, according to this argument, are dangerous to prosperous countries because they destroy the jobs of those countries’ citizens. However, not everybody agrees that trade agreements with poorer countries are really this bad for domestic job figures. William Overholt, for instance, argues that the