By JESSICA MCCOY
The United States has always prided itself on the work it has done in aiding others, but there comes a time when enough is enough. As a nation, the United States is so caught up in helping others that it has lost sight of the work that still needs to be done here in America.
The U.S. has spent close to $446 billion in Iraq alone, one of the countries that the U.S. was so concerned with “saving”.
America is also currently aiding Israel, Haiti, Egypt, Pakistan and Kenya, as well as other countries in Africa just to name a few. In 2006 alone, the U.S. spent $5.4 billion total in aiding
these countries.
All this money that is being spent trying to help these other countries could be put to use in so many other ways and pumped back into the
U.S. economy.
While it is admirable that the United States feels the need to be “Superman” and swoop in and save every other country it feels needs help, it is time to take a step back and focus on the homeland.
Their are so many issues here at home that the U.S. could and should focus on first before flying off to other countries to fix their problems.
The U.S. needs to solve it’s problems such as health care, which people feel is too expensive or inaccessible. Another issue that needs attention is the lack of education funding.
The U.S. also needs to solve the unemployment problem which is currently at 10 percent, as of December 2009, 11.9 percent in Florida. The current problems with outsourcing are contributing to the
unemployment problem need to be addressed too.
Another issue is the homeless rate around the country. An estimated 2.5 to 3.5 million people now experience homelessness each year according to Dr. Martin Donohoe of medscape.com. The rate of homelessness in the country is alarming and something that could use attention.
Not to mention the victims of Hurricane Katrina whose homes are still not repaired and families who are not yet reunited. The government failed them to begin with and should be working to remedy their situation. Five years is too long for people to still wait for help.
The economy of the United States in the past decade is not where it should be. Between current gas prices and the Dow Jones crash in 2008, things have been tough for Americans.
So some advice to the U.S., let the United Nations do its job. Stop trying to be everyone else’s savior and focus on America first.