The Current Wisdom

NEAL B. FREEMAN

Foreign aid. The very phrase is rhetorically provocative, summoning in the breasts of little old persons in tennis shoes the least charitable, most peremptory of American responses. The classic curbstone formulation has been worn smooth by the passing years: “How can we spend our money on giveaways to [insert here the name of any nation not currently a member of NATO] when we can’t even [feed, house, provide medical care for] our own people here at home?” There is ideological tintinnabulation here: direct-mail fund-raisers can dance to the rhythms. But there is little analysis. Plainly, the era of giveaways, if it was ever really with us, is long gone.

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NEAL B. FREEMAN

Foreign aid. The very phrase is rhetorically provocative, summoning in the breasts of little old persons in tennis shoes the least charitable, most peremptory of American responses. The classic curbstone formulation has been worn smooth by the passing years: “How can we spend our money on giveaways to [insert here the name of any nation not currently a member of NATO] when we can’t even [feed, house, provide medical care for] our own people here at home?” There is ideological tintinnabulation here: direct-mail fund-raisers can dance to the rhythms. But there is little analysis. Plainly, the era of giveaways, if it was ever really with us, is long gone.