Morals and Ethics-- Individual and National Obligations

King David, according to the Talmud, has messengers from the nation of Israel come to him in the wee hours of the morning with something very important on their minds. "Your Nation-Israel- needs "Parnassah" they say. Ok answers the king, let them go and practice free enterprise and let the economic engine roar says he. Oh but that is impossible for as a self contained country with limited resources there is not enough to go around they reply. Well then responds the king, the only option left is to go and conquer another nation.

This concept of conquering another nation  to feed your nation sounds ethically unsound based on how we have been taught to think within the construct of  western culture. How is it ok to subjugate another nation and to take their resources only because you feel a need for their resources and you can? A parallel case involving individuals would be antithetical to everything the Torah teaches. Just imagine, I need money and have a hard time making a living so I go and take someone elses house, money, etc. because I can??!!.

We must learn to differentiate between interpersonal ethical conventions and National/International ethical conventions. The Torah speaks to individuals not to nations. Nations, especially National leaders must act in the best interest of their nations. If a nation needs another nations resources then the stronger nation may go and acquire those resources through any method they can. Obviously there must be rules regulating International ethics too, but those rules are totally different than the rules and requirements of individuals. (Those rules we must leave for a different time to discuss).

This might explain the concept of Eved Kanaani. I would suggest that Eved Kanaani falls under the rubric of the International rather than the individual. This would explain how morally one can subjucate anther human being even though one might find it antithetical to basic moral principles. We must see it through the lens of the International not the individual. An Eved Kanaani is a byproduct of the subjugation of one nation by another nation possibly.

I am still searching for other applications...

addition:

Upon further reflection the pshat is simple. The king or government's job is to take care of its citizens. The poorer citizens can be taken care of by taxing the rich but there is a better way, tax the rich of another country rather than taxing your own citizens and that is what dovid hamelech did.

maybe the machlokes king david and the chachamim that came to him was that king david was a keynsian and he believed in the multiplier effect or taxation to which the chachamim replied "ein hakometz masbia es ha'ari" you cant squeeze out more than a dollar out of a dollar and you also cannot tax the rich to feed the poor as that would restrict investment and thereby shrink GDP but you can tax the rich of the neighboring countries.