Whether countries should help each other can only be judged from care perspective such as one described by Gilligan. Only emotionally we can relate with humanistic, morally appropriate views on the poverty and starvation problem, which emerges into new problem of overpopulation. This problem has feminist side to it, which is the fact that only way to solve this problem is to allow equal rights to both genders to have access to any help from other countries. The main argument against help is that there will be if not there is overpopulation of the planet. The solution is immediate birth control, which can be learned only through education. Only education can encourage people to look at and improve consequences of their behavior - a philosophy suggested by Mill.
Care perspective, suggested by Gilligan, comes from feminine emotional view on morality behind human behavior. There is justice perspective, which is more rational and masculine, however, it would not be appropriate for this argument, instead, we should approach caringly and thoughtfully to such important problem such as poverty and overpopulation in the world. Care perspective could be promoted only by private agencies, because if government will be involved, then justice perspective will have to take place, which will yield place to bureaucracy and profit. Therefore, government agencies should not get involved for they will promote rational but uncaring solutions. It does not mean that private agencies should not be legalized, but they should not be subject to taxes. Those private agencies could be public, could be religious, as long as they are volunteers and do not gain profit from educating and humanitarian help to poor countries directly. Thus, care perspective is most rational and suitable approach in this case.
There are feminist views, which should not be disregarded while looking at this solution to the world problem of overpopulation and hunger. There should not be any preferences in genders while assisting the poor. The education and humanitarian help should be given to any one who desires to be educated and to be helped. It is very important to note that desire to be educated is the most important criteria to be considered in choosing whom to help, because we can change the world only together with those who need this change and want to change the world together with us. Of course, we cannot expect the prospective students to understand the purpose of education, however, it is possible to maintain course of education in proper direction and to give praise to those who follow the most correct route. Such praise could take form of free food, free clothes, scholarships and/or job placements. The most important is that opportunity should be given to all who desire to take this opportunity, and to those who succeed.
Education is the most important of all solutions to the starving and overpopulation, because not only it eliminates the current problem, but it also provides future generations with valuable knowledge. The current problems, which education solves are the following: medical unawareness, sexual unawareness, urban unawareness, and birth control unawareness. This means that food and water supplies are contaminated, people are unaware of sexual diseases, they do not recognize global overpopulation problem, and they are unaware of any modern methods of birth control. All this can be corrected by teaching youth to wash hands, to boil water, to cook food properly, to wash clothes, to prevent diseases, to use contraceptives. However, it is also important to consider availability of proper food and medical supply, such as contraceptives. This could be supplied only until the country reaches higher economical status and can afford to supply them publicly for sale. Thus, educating is the only way to bringing world to a halt in its rapid rates of growth.
How education can be provided? Education can be provided only through monetary funding. It is necessary to build schools, to provide equipment, to provide books, pens, pencils uniforms, but most important of all it is necessary to provide proper teaching staff, which may or may not be comprised of volunteers. Also, we must remember that education can only be provided once most basic needs have been meet, such as proper food and clothes, so schools may, for instance provide free dinning and free clothes, such as uniforms. It is impossible to find such things in those poor regions, where children are starving, thus all this equipment must be donated or bought on money donated. It is important to mention that the sacrifices, which are ought to be made by people are negligible compare to the lives saved by this money contribution, meaning that the consequences outweigh the sacrifices made. It is the only way to save the world without violence - through education and immediate birth control application.
One may argue that the results from education are not immediate. Yes, they are not, however we may invoke almost immediate change in the students already attending a school, by school demanding from students use of contraceptives, which should be supplied by the school and to the school as needed. Such action will be relatively immediate. The new generation that will be graduating from school will have all the methods of how to control birth rate. Those children who have been educated and went through school would have better chance of survival and carrying on the knowledge obtained in school about proper sanitary conditions, prevention of diseases, birth control and better lifestyle. A better lifestyle would be a concept encouraged to bloom about the fact that family with no more than one child is the most ideal unit of society, considering the factor of overpopulation. So, most likely we will be able to see the results in ten years or less, as new generation of educated children will form.
It is only logical to suggest that education can be promoted after basic needs, such as food, sanitation, clothing have been met. If all these factors would be available at school, then children would be conditioned to see that the consequences of going to school are very positive and pleasurable events. This utilitarian approach of Mill could be extended even further, if asylums would be created in poor countries in such manner, so that they will provide job to those who graduate successfully or at least participate in all school activities to satisfactory degree. Scholarships and co-op programs in such asylums would provide educated and market-oriented citizens of the world. These would be students supported by international community, internationally educated, and internationally accepted students of the future.
Another important thing that should be encouraged through humanitarian help is giving this help to those who promote values of global awareness or at least fit the category of satisfactory image of good citizens. Thus, those who, for instance, have one child in the family, rather than two, would get more help or aid, than those who disregard global overpopulation. Such help may or may not be legalized. However, China had set out a model by legalizing such system of promotions, in which family with one child is a family unit of society, which gets all the rewards from government, in contrast to families with two children who do not get such rewards. Such rewards could be supplies and services of humanitarian help. So, population growth may be maintained through humanitarian help.
One may argue that food in the planet will cease soon and we cannot provide enough food for each other, and that we are in some sort of a "boat", which will trip, if we let others to share our prosperity. However, we are not exactly in such situation yet. In the "boat" situation we do not have any control over how many people "are in the water". However, in our case we do have such control, since we can prevent people from being in such situation as needing or "being in the water". We can allow people to live and to live ourselves, but we all have to follow same rules of birth control. In short, rich nations should and ought to help poor nations, but only if those want to be helped, and if they will follow the guidelines set out, so that the "boat" will not drawn.
In conclusion, Gilligan provides us with wonderful tool to measure justice in terms of emotions and feelings, such as sympathy. This tool is used in this argument so that we can say that it is important to provide equal rights to men and women to humanitarian aid for the poor nations and countries. Mill helps us to decide with his philosophy that outcomes or consequences of saving life are more important than losing some of our comfort by helping others instead. The final call is that we can and we ought to, as rich and capable country, to help poor nations, and so are ought all rich nations.
November, 2001