Generosity or selfishness

To the editor:

Eighty years ago the Marshall Plan was created to help Europe recover from World War II. That plan conceived by the U.S. government was generous and applied to friend and former foe alike. To say that the European landscape was devastated is an understatement and so to was the morale of the people, after so much human loss and destruction. Never before had any plan like this been attempted. Formerly, the winner of a war took the spoils of war and did not generously donate to the recovery of a former foe.

What did that generosity net us? How about 80 years of peace and friendship. Generosity proved to be truly in our own self-interest.

Along comes President Trump with his zero-sum tariff policy that works to unnecessarily punish other countries and years of friendship are discarded, thrown in the trash heap of history. What does that net us? It nets us an economic war fought against our former friends and allies—a war that can never be truly won. A war that will result in lasting distrust and turns friendly countries against us while promoting mutual hatred.

Will these outrageous tariffs truly make America great again or will they set off a war of economic attrition? We all must decide if selfishness is in our self-interest. After all we are the wealthiest country in the world, and it has been shown a little generosity can buy a lasting peace.

Rosalind Renouard

Bainbridge