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I strongly prefer helping my own country, town, and family before helping foreigners. But I still support foreign aid to Africa because it's ridiculously effective at saving people. So even though I value the life of random strangers less, it's still a better use of money than letting the military blow it on F-35s or whatever.
I will note that if F-35s can deter Xi Jinping from starting WWIII (or even help cut down the amount of ICBMs that get off the ground when it goes nuclear), they're actually pretty good value for money. Assuming that something won't be needed always sets its value to 0, but most things have nonzero value because that assumption is usually wrong.
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No, Scott is dumb, and I've only realized it in the past few years: you can always find reasons to wring out more blood and treasure saving African lives, but left unsaid: are the lives of the modal African worth saving? In particular, the kind of African that grits his penis to tear bloody cuts into a woman's vagina?
It's odd that those who would condemn a man to the eternal pits of progressive damnation for the slightest of errors would support such a practice. You could say that they don't intend that, but that's the practical outcome of their efforts. The F-35 may be a boondoggle but it doesn't have the moral catastrophe of spreading AIDS.
The life a neighbor 15 miles away probably isn't even worth saving. That's not the point.
However, the money I have represents enough power to affect an African. It is not enough power to affect a fellow American. When I donate to VLCOL-based charities I am buying an effigy of influence.
Feeling powerful feels good. That is enough.
That is not relevant to the post you are responding to. They are saying you should feel powerful...but also should feel evil.
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