When I was 7 years old, watching a Stanford football game with my dad, I saw an opposing player get hurt and had to be taken off the field for medical treatment. I cried because I felt terrible for him, and over the next hour, I asked my dad countless times if the player would be okay. My dad laughed and told me he was proud of me for being so sympathetic.
At the time, I thought that my reaction was normal, that everyone would feel pity seeing someone get hurt, even if they were on the other team. But as I grew older, I began to realize that the compassion I feel is not always the emotion guiding the people who make the most powerful decisions.
According to NBC News, 13 Americans have died so far in the Iran war following the crash of a refueling aircraft. This statistic is making headlines across the country. Yet, always buried further down is the fact that more than 1,200 people in Iran have been killed by U.S.-Israeli strikes.
Our leaders today are selfish and lack sympathy for other countries and the long-term future of our own country. One example is the economic instability caused by the war, which future generations of Americans will still be dealing with.
According to Fortune, the U.S. government spent upwards of $11.3 billion on the war with Iran in only the first two weeks and continues to spend an estimated $800 million per day. This is greatly increasing the national debt, and Gen Z is going to pay the price. While wars may begin under one generation of leaders, younger Americans will spend decades paying the financial consequences with taxes.
To make matters worse, the strategy behind war has become increasingly uncertain. President Donald Trump assumed that after killing the supreme leader of the Iranian regime, he would influence who the next one would be and make the country more U.S.-friendly, but his wishes didn’t go as planned. According to The Atlantic, Mojtaba Khamenei took over Iran’s leadership, a hard-liner and enforcer of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz whom Trump deemed “unacceptable” but, to his displeasure, had no say in.
One of Trump’s major goals was to turn over the regime by encouraging a popular uprising. But instead, Iran strengthened its leadership and disrupted the global economy by restricting the Strait of Hormuz and raising gas prices. So, why should we waste so much money and drive up oil prices only to achieve little success in the war?
For me, this situation feels especially personal. I constantly hear about how younger generations can’t afford to own homes in the increasingly unstable economy, which isn’t getting any better with the new war.
Every dollar spent on the military campaign is a dollar not spent on the domestic infrastructure that younger generations will rely on. But instead of addressing ever-growing inflation, Trump is spending billions of dollars on an attack on Iran.
However, the concern is not only economic. According to The Guardian, European allies have resisted Trump’s demands for help to clear the Strait of Hormuz. With their hesitance to defend the U.S., the future instability that weak alliances bring has become a real concern.
When I was 7 years old, I cried over an injured football player because I believed hurting another person was something everyone should care about. Years later, watching thousands die in a war driven by questionable strategy makes me wonder whether the people making these decisions have forgotten that same basic empathy.
If American leaders continue prioritizing short-term political victories over long-term stability, it will be younger generations who inherit the consequences.
