Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Common Humanity Extends Beyond Borders

In May of this year, after more than 25 years of civil war and more than 60,000 lives lost, [violence in Sri Lanka officially ended](https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/country_profiles/1168427.stm). Somalia, a country long known to Americans as a home to tumult and disorder, [has seen 17,000 citizens die](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/world/africa/02somalia.html?_r=1) since 2006 in a newly active civil war. In Darfur, the ethnic slaughter has resurged, with [renewed fighting](https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8266314.stm) taking place in the region where over 300,000 have died and 2.7 million have been displaced since 2003.

All three of these conflicts share one important thing in common: a lack of serious U.S. involvement.

This is not surprising. While our government has undertaken wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for a host of reasons – which may or may not have been in our national interest – our country has no stomach for conflicts that don’t serve our economic or geopolitical goals. While victory in Afghanistan is still considered by most Americans to be vital to ensuring our safety – and rightly so – there remains little doubt among the majority of Americans that the Iraq War was pursued and carried out for the wrong reasons.

Yet, the question remains: Why, as Americans, are we comfortable waging war on the oil fields of the Middle East and not in the deserts of Sudan? Certainly economic ramifications play a role, but it seems a tragedy that we as a nation are more willing to go to war to protect the price of a barrel of oil than to protect the value of human life.

At the heart of the issue is our inclination as Americans to value the lives of our own citizens over those of other countries. While some may object to this suggestion, our actions as individuals and voters who participate in the electoral process have made this clear. We want our government to avoid committing time and resources, both military and diplomatic, to conflicts in (most) parts of the world where humanitarian issues are the chief concern. Unless genocide breaks out in Western Europe or Canada, both the American public and our government are likely to focus their attention elsewhere.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The real reason most Americans find it easy to ignore problems in faraway corners of the world is because they have nothing at stake. They don’t know the victims and don’t understand the consequences. For people to act, they need to know what to care about.

Previous generations had no way of getting to know people a hemisphere away. As the first generation with the ability to take full advantage of the Internet and social networking tools, we can be different. We don’t need to be in Darfur or Sri Lanka to read what a blogger there has to say or see the latest Facebook status update from someone on the ground. For the first time, we can care about and understand the problems without having to be there.

oreover, we are increasing our physical presence abroad as well. A [2005 study](https://www.iie.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Pressroom/PressReleases/U_S__STUDY_ABROAD_INCREASES_BY_9_6_CONTINUES_RECORD_GROWTH.htm) found that record numbers of Americans are studying abroad, with these numbers expected to continue rising. The presence of young Americans abroad can only benefit both our generation here at home and citizens across the world.

Continuing to encourage students to take advantage of study abroad opportunities will enable us as a generation to better understand and relate to the world around us. While this doesn’t mean we will intervene in every humanitarian situation that demands our attention, it does mean that we will be more willing to act when present conditions require us to.

In an episode of “The West Wing,” fictional President Josiah Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen, is wrestling with how to handle a genocide in the imaginary state of Equatorial Kundu, which was conceived to bear a fictional resemblance to Rwanda. He asks his Deputy Communications Director, Will Bailey, “Why do I value an American life more than a Kundunese one?” Bailey responds, “I don’t know, sir, but you do.” The exchange defines how most of our parents and those of older generations see the world.

Our generation, though, can and should be different. It is time to be the first American generation to value human life everywhere in the world, regardless of whether it is an American life or not.

John Thornburgh is a senior in the College. He can be reached at thornburghthehoya.com. Worldwise appears every other Friday.

*To send a letter to the editor on a recent campus issue or Hoya story or a viewpoint on any topic, contact [opinionthehoya.com](opinionthehoya.com). Letters should not exceed 300 words, and viewpoints should be between 600 to 800 words.*”

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