Our government must give more to support international development projects that will eliminate poverty, and public health projects to save millions from dying of treatable diseases every year. It is a moral duty and also a practical necessity. Those who consider only the immediate interests of the US should consider how inattention to these global problems come back to us in the form of instability and violent conflict. But the question, to me, seems far simpler than such projections: if our country has the capacity to save lives by the thousands, by the hundred thousands, by the millions, isn't it imperative for us to act? What could possibly be more important than that? Jeffrey Sachs has something to say about this in today's washington post.