"...you're trying to say we do it out of the goodness of our hearts. I'll agree that most Americans don't have a problem with it for that very reason, they want to help. However, our government is the one that decides what's in our interests and where we will send money, military hardware, humanitarian aid, etc."
Give me a break; don't pretend that the American people don't have any power by blaming the "government". Don't be naive enough to think that the "government" will do what they feel like when they feel like. They would not take action without the support of its people. The fact of the matter is WE CAN'T HELP EVERYBODY IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD!!! Wake up!!! That is why the U.S. has so many individual non-profit (SUCCESSFUL) organizations where Americans help others in need. Each individual needs to take responsibility for his/her action and not blame everybody else because the world is not perfect.
If you see atrocities, help! Donate money to your most important causes. Write to your Congress People, to your President, to your State Representatives. VOTE! Enlist with the Peace Corps; help out with the Red Cross. If you're just sitting in your comfortable home, stuffing your face, playing games on your nice computer, and just sitting on your high horse bitching about it, you need to just shut up.
It's as simple as saying NO to day-to-day cruelty. If you see a man abusing a woman, turn him in. If you see parents abusing children, turn them in. If you see citizens abusing the system (welfare fraud, frivolous lawsuits, etc.), work up the nerve to do something about it! Complacency is an ugly thing and it's even uglier when the people wearing it bitch about everything that's wrong in the world but don't want to do a damned thing about it.