Yes We Can Afford It

Conservative Senator Elaine McCoy's wonderful blog, Hulabaloos, which I cannot plug often enough, has a link to a piece by Oxfam Great Britain's Duncan Green comparing the amounts spent by governments world wide to bail out the financial sector and the costs of alleviating some of the worst global ills.

Many, if not most, have surely felt discomfort at the increasingly fantastical amounts thrown at a financial sector largely responsible for its, and our troubles. What Mr. Green puts in perspective is the almost trivial amounts, in comparison, that would be required to eradicate the worst of poverty and meet a host of other worthy development goals worldwide.

What the past several months have surely done is ended arguments about what we can or cannot afford. We may or may not have the political will or moral vision to do what is decent rather than expedient, but surely never again will be be able to hide behind financial rationalizations. Already we stand shamed as a society for putting the needs of the already wealthy so incredibly far ahead of those most in need.