The humanitarians opt for concern for others, while the realists would put us first. Even to see the possibility, however, of constructing a foreign aid policy on the basis of common interests takes some hard thinking. One must consider just what are the needs of the majority of people now poor, hungry, and illiterate in the third world. In virtually every country, either current production or yet untapped local potential could meet the needs of the entire people. Thus, too many people or the unfortunate calamities of nature do not cause hunger.
Hunger is human-made.
It occurs where economic and political rules and institutions have so constricted control over farmland and other basic resources that some people are left with no power at all, not even to secure their most elementary human needs. High on the list is economic security - the need for remunerative and reliable work. As our economy becomes increasingly dominated by globe-spanning corporations in the 1980s, it is clearer than ever that poverty in the third world directly threatens that interest. As long as workers there are prevented from organizing to protect their interests, U.S. wages and jobs are jeopardized by American companies relocating to low-wage havens abroad. There is a further, more subtle threat.