PRIVILEGED BLINDNESS OF “AMERICA FIRST” THINKING
To every single person in the United States whining about their tax dollars helping people overseas — SHUT. THE. HELL. UP.
You live in a country of unimaginable privilege. You have electricity. You have plumbing. You have food and water. It sounds basic, almost silly to mention, right? Wrong. Because 4.5 billion people — 60% of the world’s population — either have no toilet at home or one that doesn’t safely manage waste. Because as of 2023, 800 million people still live without electricity. Because right now, 880 million people are malnourished, and that number is climbing.
Meanwhile, entire nations are running out of clean water, with only six countries having secure access to natural freshwater supplies. Let that sink in.
Now, imagine being born into a world where you have no choice — where you wake up every single day starving, thirsty, and sick. Imagine living in a village riddled with disease, with no way to work, no land to farm, no medicine to keep your children alive. Imagine not having a toilet, not having running water, not having light in your home.
And for those who say, “Well, why don’t they just leave?” — have you ever TRIED to flee a collapsing country? Have you ever attempted to migrate somewhere that doesn’t want you? It’s not like hopping on a plane. For millions, the choice is simple: stay and suffer, or die trying to escape.
Humanitarian aid is often the only thing standing between life and death. It delivers food, clean water, medical supplies, doctors, and agricultural specialists to places where governments have failed. It helps entire communities rise from devastation and reclaim their independence.
But from the comfort of their couches, some Americans complain:
“Why should MY tax dollars help them?”
Oh, really? Then let’s talk about where your tax dollars ACTUALLY go.
As of February 7, 2025, Donald Trump has been president for exactly 19 days — and he’s already spent 9 of them in Florida. That means 47% of his presidency has been a vacation.
Each trip to Mar-a-Lago costs $4.4 million in taxpayer money — so far, that’s $39.6 million spent on golf.
Let me say that again: You’re fine with spending nearly $40 million in 19 days so Trump can swing a club, but you’re outraged when a starving child gets a meal or a dying mother gets life-saving medicine?
The reality is, greed has no borders. Right now, these humanitarian crises may feel far away, but comfort zones shrink fast. And when it’s YOUR community facing unbearable scarcity, when it’s YOUR family struggling to find food and water, when it’s YOUR children suffering — will you still say “no one owes you anything”? Or will you pray that somewhere, someone still believes in kindness?
I’ve spent years in war zones and crisis areas, often finding my views at odds with the general crowd. And I’m okay with that — because being on the right side of history matters more than fitting in. My perspective isn’t shaped by nationalism or blind loyalty — it’s shaped by what I’ve seen with my own eyes.
In 2015, during a mission to rescue trafficked children, I sat face-to-face with a man who enslaved them. When I asked him how he could treat young lives as commodities, how he could torture and kill them without hesitation, his response was chilling: “You have to understand, it’s a business.”
At that moment, I wanted to reach across the table and end him. But more than that, I realized something even darker: this is what happens when people abandon morality in the name of self-interest.
This is why I reject nationalism, patriotism, and any ideology that demands blind allegiance — whether it’s MAGA, Reform UK, religious extremism, or any other form of tribalism. When you stop thinking for yourself, when you let the herd do your thinking, you become part of something capable of dehumanizing others.
Ethnocentrism is a disease. It convinces people they’re superior. It justifies atrocities in the name of a flag, a border, a belief. History has proven, time and again, that when humans stop seeing others as equals, they commit horrors they never imagined themselves capable of.
For me, it’s simple:
If I can’t trust someone to do the right thing in the worst moments, especially when the most vulnerable are suffering, then I can’t trust them at all. It doesn’t matter what they claim to believe. If their first instinct in a crisis is to divide people by nationality, race, gender, or religion — instead of fighting for basic human rights — then they are not my people.
That’s why I reject nationalism. That’s why I have zero interest in “America First,” “Britain First,” “Germany First,” or “Australia First.” It’s not patriotism — it’s regression. It turns human rights into privileges instead of birthrights.
And rejecting these ideologies doesn’t mean I blindly support the “other side.” Because there are no sides. This isn’t a sports game. This is humanity. And basic human rights should NEVER be up for debate.
Vincent Lyn
CEO & Founder of We Can Save Children
Deputy Ambassador of International Human Rights Commission (IHRC)
Director of Creative Development at African Views Organization
Economic & Social Council at United Nations (ECOSOC)
Chief International Director at 365 Security Services
Rescue & Recovery Specialist at International Confederation of Police & Security Experts