DesideriScuri
Posts: 12225
Joined: 1/18/2012
Status: offline
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: freedomdwarf1
quote:
ORIGINAL: DesideriScuri
quote:
ORIGINAL: freedomdwarf1
quote:
ORIGINAL: DesideriScuri
What, then, is the solution? Do we stop giving aid and stop harming local ag production? Or, do we do the opposite and give more food aid and harm local ag production?
Isn't that sorta like biting the hand that feeds you?
Nope. Quite the opposite.
Proverb
give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime
It is more worthwhile to teach someone to do something than to do it for them.
So the solution is simple: Teach them how to be more productive and provide the means to do so, don't just throw food at them sporadically.
Don't just dig a well and walk away, teach them how to dig one and give them the tools to do the job.
This is where donor countries fall flat on their faces.
They're bitching that it's not enough and that it's sometimes late, and, yet, that it's hurting local ag. You can't have it both ways.
How many people will suffer and/or die while local ag production incorporates the methods of improving productivity?
I'm all for US Aid (not going to speak towards aid given from other countries) being tied to works rather than just "stuff." It's far less likely to be siphoned off by a corrupt leadership that way.
There's the disconnect Desi.
The US (and the UK and many other donor countries) just dump the food.
If it's too late, extra people have died waiting.
Don't make a promise then don't deliver on time. That's their gripe.
What's the adage about beggars and choosers?
quote:
Only a tiny handful of charities in very tiny locactions actually provide the teaching and the tools.
Most donor countries just promise food aid and it's often too little too late - and people die as a result.
It needs to go hand-in-hand - food aid for the short term and the teaching/tools for the longer term.
This is what isn't happening.
This is where our glorious smug leaders say they are 'doing their bit' in foreign aid.
A big part of US food aid is done (as someone on here stated, my apologies for not remembering who) to clear excess production inventories the government "bought" to maintain prices for Big Ag. All that food would go to waste if it wasn't doled out in aid. Sad, but true.
It doesn't behoove the US government to help impoverished countries improve their ag productivity. But, doling out the aid like it's done doesn't help impoverished countries improve their ag productivity. But, why is it the responsibility of the US Government to teach people in impoverished nations how to be better at producing their own food? Shouldn't that be the responsibility of their own governments (if it's the responsibility of any government at all)?
But, this is what government does (at least the US government at most levels): they hand out fish and don't bother to teach someone how to fish. There may be offers of free counseling, coaching, etc. if the recipient wants, but there is little in the way of requirements. The majority of people receiving welfare, I'd bet are incapable of providing for themselves, or are only there on a temporary basis during a current hard time. There are enough abusers of the system, though, that there needs to be some sort of overhaul.
quote:
And yes, I agree with the inherent corruption of many of these countries that are screaming for foreign aid.
If it wasn't for the simple fact that innocent people are the victims, I'd say fuck the aid until you root out the corruption starting at the top of the tree.
There has to be a line in the sand at some point. Perhaps get the UN in on it, and proving a regime is mistreating it's people would be cause for the blue hats to go in and knock heads. At some point in time, we have to realize and understand that the welfare of the peoples of the impoverished nation of (insert nation here) aren't the responsibility of any other government.
Take government out of the equation, and let charity take over. In the short term, there will be a terrible loss of life as charitable giving ramps up, but it will catch up. Plus, there will be "missionary" groups that will go and help those people learn more effective strategies.
_____________________________
What I support:
- A Conservative interpretation of the US Constitution
- Personal Responsibility
- Help for the truly needy
- Limited Government
- Consumption Tax (non-profit charities and food exempt)
|
RE: Damn Welfare Queens! - 
Profile
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread