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Notes -
You misunderstand.
That wailing is not genuine; it is merely an exercise of power to force you to serve their moral ends.
Whether their moral ends are objectively correct in this case is not relevant (stopped clocks right twice a day, and all that)- the rescuer is perfectly justified in refusing their request on those grounds. And yes, that means it is the bystanders wagering the kid's life, if that bluff is called he dies, and that's the way it is; shame on the bystanders for using a drowning kid as such a bluff.
"Won't someone please think of the children?" is never about the children and never has been: it's about the power.
Well yes, but this is my sticking point: since when is it the outsiders' request at all? The people complaining about USAID are not foreigners in a position to step up to replace it, even if they wanted to. They're American liberals. That's where the wailing is coming from. (Whether because they sincerely think it's import or because it was a useful power-seeking ploy for them; doesn't matter here.) The people complaining about cutting USAID are not people who could take up the slack once America pulls out, because they are Americans. This is why I am saying that what the EU does or does not do about this has no bearing on the validity of the claim.
Why couldn't they privately pick up the slack for the cutting of USAID? Charitable aid doesn't need to go through the government. There is nothing preventing them from raising funds themselves and providing this aid. Again it comes back to power--they don't want to bear the cost of their preferences and instead want to force others to subsidize them.
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