SODOM & GOMORRAH: The United States Congress has just frozen $700 million in aid to Pakistan, in the name of stopping terrorism, promoting world peace, and saving ponies. While perhaps justified, the incident serves as a reminder for us that international liberalism neither stops terrorism, promotes world peace, nor saves ponies.
Ultimately liberalism is coercive and inhumane. I will never be one to argue that the world can survive without coercion, but I will suggest that there are ways to create conditions that are less violent.
The current situation with Pakistan provides a perfect example. For several years, our aid money has contributed to the overall corruption and dependence of the country. One may argue that we have been giving money to a corrupt country, but this would overlook the insidious nature of western dollars. They are a bribe for services, and when you’re already poor you begin to become dependent on the money. (Not to mention the fact that the money is itself a lie; it’s all printed or borrowed, none of it actually exists at the time it’s given.)
The continuous flow of money has created a country that is both dependent on funds and resentful of them; no one plans on remaining a prostitute forever. So you begin to associate yourself with competing gangs in hopes of getting out, but you never quite get out.
America, of course, gets upset. First, they provided billions in aid to Pakistan. Second, they saved the country from dictatorship. And now Pakistan responds by being downright ungrateful, so the powers that be decide to pull the funding.
We would suggest that liberalism is much more inhumane and coercive than other systems because all of this is done in the name of humanity. When one acts on behalf of humanity, then the enemies are implicitly sub-human and are worthy of destruction. The Crusades might have been bad, my friends, but most of the time armies fought against armies. Very rarely was the decision made to starve out entire countries, which is what pulling the plug on international aid and enacting sanctions does.