Limits of compassion

Humanitarianism is a wonderful endeavor and has the potential to save the world. But can Americans afford to create a welfare state for the world?

With the national debt so far out of whack that no administration now or in the near future can possibly meet budgetary restraints, how is it possible to endorse, comfort, house, feed and heal the hordes of humanity crossing our borders to obtain the freedoms our forefathers shed blood to obtain for us?

In our personal lives, just as in government, there is a finite amount of discretionary income available. If my household has promised to contribute a percentage of our meager wealth to a worthy cause, is it acceptable to continue supporting that cause when our own children suffer from financial neglect? Is it somehow cruel to take care of our own before accepting the tired, poor, wretched and hungry of the world?

Regardless of popular charitable religious teachings, we must attend to the needs of our immediate family before we take on the needs of others, even if turning them away is painful. We, as a nation, simply cannot afford to support the world’s castoffs and malcontents.

David Michaelson

Harrington, Wash.