6 comments
Lawmakers who opposed the plan said it was cruel to cut off aid to countries grappling with hunger and crime
I think that it is cruel for my government to tax me to try to "fix" issue in other countries
>Lawmakers who opposed the plan said it was cruel to cut off aid to countries grappling with hunger and crime
I think that it is cruel for my government to tax me to try to "fix" issue in other countries
"fix" is indeed a dubious word. Most "foreign aid" goes to military hardware, CIA operations, propaganda, corruption and lobbying of local politicians, commissioning studies to drum up business for US companies, etc. It might be thought of as advertising or PR spending that probably does have some return on investment but neither for the local citizens nor for US taxpayers.
But even if all the money were to go to distributing bags of rice and buying books, I don't think that's the US's responsibility while we have spiraling costs for healthcare, education, and housing domestically.
"fix" is indeed a dubious word. Most "foreign aid" goes to military hardware, CIA operations, propaganda, corruption and lobbying of local politicians, commissioning studies to drum up business for US companies, etc. It might be thought of as advertising or PR spending that probably does have some return on investment but neither for the local citizens nor for US taxpayers.
But even if all the money were to go to distributing bags of rice and buying books, I don't think that's the US's responsibility while we have spiraling costs for healthcare, education, and housing domestically.
even if all the money were to go to distributing bags of rice
There is a huge problem when aid goes to this though. Foreign aid like this absolutely destroys the local economy in developing nations. Say Kwame actually wants to escape poverty, saves enough money to buy some land and starts farming. Money is tight so he needs to grow relatively low maintenance crops, so say he chooses yams. The locals aren't going to buy Kwame's shitty yams when they can just get free rice and beans from the Red Cross truck, so Kwame has to shut down his farm. I have a good friend who grew up in South Africa and he preaches that the single worst thing you can do for Africa is send them aid, partially for that reason and partially because it almost always ends up in the wrong hands of local pimps/warlords/slavers
> even if all the money were to go to distributing bags of rice
There is a huge problem when aid goes to this though. Foreign aid like this absolutely destroys the local economy in developing nations. Say Kwame actually wants to escape poverty, saves enough money to buy some land and starts farming. Money is tight so he needs to grow relatively low maintenance crops, so say he chooses yams. The locals aren't going to buy Kwame's shitty yams when they can just get free rice and beans from the Red Cross truck, so Kwame has to shut down his farm. I have a good friend who grew up in South Africa and he preaches that the single worst thing you can do for Africa is send them aid, partially for that reason and partially because it almost always ends up in the wrong hands of local pimps/warlords/slavers
The country was fine when taxes were lower, like during the early to mid 1900s. The increase in tax coincides with the decline of the country. Coincidence?
The country was fine when taxes were lower, like during the early to mid 1900s. The increase in tax coincides with the decline of the country. Coincidence?
The US should stop meddling in the affairs of foreign nations--and that certainly includes giving foreign aid, which is largely corruption money anyway that doesn't benefit the local citizens.