U.S. is smallest contributor of economic foreign aid

[Clarkie1]

Ina news conference at U.N. headquarters in New York, Egeland called for a major international response -- and went so far as to call the U.S. government and others "stingy" on foreign aid in general.

<snip>

The United States is the largest international economic aid donor in dollar terms but is the smallest contributor among the major donor governments when calculated as a percent of gross national income," said the report, which is posted on the U.S. State Department's Web site.

<snip>

Egeland, at the U.N. news conference, said the cost of the devastation will "probably be many billions of dollars. However, we cannot fathom the cost of these poor societies and the nameless fishermen and fishing villages that have just been wiped out."

He said that international responses in the wake of major disasters are often overestimated.

"We need rich countries, rich individuals, even only those of us who are reasonably affluent to respond generously. Here we are facing people who have lost everything. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost everything. Millions of people are now living in the worst possible hazards of having polluted drinking water, no sanitation, no health services," he said, adding that the conditions are sure to lead to disease.

"The important thing is that we give and that we as citizens also demand that our countries give generously to those who have been so hard hit."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/27/un.tsunami/index.html

I can help but wonder how better we would be, our relationships with the rest of the world would be, and the rest of the world would be if we had spent $200 billion in foreign aid for this and other urgent needs instead of Iraq.

[Up2Late]

1. So typical

The problem is, (say with a Texas Accent) "their Ain't enough Whyte (white) people or Christians ther." :shrug:

Now I bet if someone was to point out some Oil rigs or refineries that were destroyed, they would get a bunch of aid, right quick.

[beam me up scottie]

2. Wow, a whole 15 million dollars from the US

Will the victims have to sign a loyalty oath or convert to christianity, maybe pledge abstinence?

[oscar111]

3. 105 Trillion is US wealth

http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/accessible/l5.htm

see the bottom line.

about 2. 4 T is fed budget

GDP is ten trillion.

avg us family at retirement has 60K dollars, 40 of that in house value. {last i read of it... which was some years back}

72 million families of four. 300 million here.

bush just spent 2 million tax dolars for a yacht.. which he had free use of from the old owner, anyhow.

CEO Kozlowski spent 2 million on a birthday party, with vodka flowing from a male opening in an ice statue.

One omlet costs a thousand dollars at the Parker Meridian in NYC. It's a big omlet, folks. A whole meal in itself. Try it! You can afford it..... can't you?

[beam me up scottie]

6. I couldn't even afford to steal the sugar packets.

I am one paycheck-no, wait, make that half of a paycheck away from being homeless. I am sick to death of worrying about money but I do not expect the government to bail me out. I DO expect them to spend as much as possible to help the truly needy, not just in this country but anywhere in the world. For this president it appears to be too much of an effort to even pretend to care.

[MessiahRp]

9. :( I know that feeling...

I have to hit the cash advance place to pay my rent this month. :(

Fuck Bush and his rich asshole friends...

Okay had to vent.

Rp

[beam me up scottie]

11. I've had to use the cash advance place several times in the past

few months. It ages you, constantly worrying about money. But you know what, my brothers both are making fantastic money working in the military for *. I think I prefer being poor. Not having anything to lose is actually very liberating. If the revolution starts tomorrow, I'm ready!

[Stinky The Clown]

4. The shame I feel for my own country is so heavy I can hardly bear it

We are a country being held hostage by a cabal led by a self-indulgent, narcissistic, selfish, self-absorbed, entitled, punitive, arrogant, uncaring, hating, self-loathing, bed wetting, thunb sucking, mouth breathing, knuckle walking, bile spewing, incurious, piece of shit.

[Skittles]

8. and his 40 million dollar inaguration is coming up

:puke:

[HysteryDiagnosis]

5. Sure as hell have sold/given away plenty of WMD, missiles, rockets,

bombs, guns, etc, etc, etc, etc...

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Pentagon_military/Guns_R_Us.html
The United States, Britain, Russia, France and China dominate today's $32 billion global arms trade. But the United States has pulled out in front. According to the U.S. government's own estimates, Washington's share of the business jumped from 16 percent in 1988 to 50 percent between 1992 and 1994. The sky seems to be the limit. According to a 1995 Pentagon forecast, the United States accounts for 63 percent of worldwide arms deals already signed for the period between 1994 and 2000.

Equally interesting.....
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/11/18/international0156EST0428.DTL
Israel's weapons exports skyrocket, making it friends and money

PETER ENAV, Associated Press Writer

Tuesday, November 18, 2003
With an arsenal ranging from the Uzi to attack drones and airborne early warning systems, Israel has quietly transformed itself into one of the world's top defense exporters.

Defense News has ranked Israel as No. 3 based on 2002 contracts, and an Israeli expert told The Associated Press the country was now considered to be in the top five. Growing sales to Turkey and India, two major new markets for Israel, have driven the surge.

[beam me up scottie]

7. one of my favorite quotes:

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

[MessiahRp]

10. Eisenhower

sure seemed to have a bead on where the Military Industrial Complex was going... why didn't he do more to stop them cold before they got so strong?

Rp

[rfkrfk]

12. Europeans are in a position to contribute, much more

Consider gasoline, in the U.K.
Some type of 'special for Europe' gas {petrol, to them}
costs an equivalent of eight bucks a gallon.
I can only affort the cheap lousy US stuff.
I could go on and on, about Europeans eagerly paying
extravagent {by US standards} prices.
.
EU, you owe the world, pay up.

[pffarrell]

14. oh please

if Europenas pay 8 bucks for gas, it's because they have to. there are far less cars per capita here, there are a lot more small cars, many families have no car at all. In England, at least, the lifestyle for most people is not extravagant. I'm not saying that the EU shouldn't gove more, but in general aid they are already way up on the US.

[rfkrfk]

15. when was the last time you saw 98 octane, at a gas pump?

that stuff is needed in a turbo European car.
Granted, they have parking problems.

[tkmorris]

20. You don't know what you're talking about

Europeans pay what they do for gas because of the taxes upon it, not the quality. The difference in octane ratings is due to a difference in how it is computed; in reality American gasoline is of equal or better quality when compared to European gasoline.

Furthermore, on average Europeans do far more than Americans do to combat poverty and hunger. I hardly think they need you sir to lecture them on doing more for the poor.

[pffarrell]

24. not really sure what you mean

I just get the one that says unleaded. petrol in england is 85p a litre, the vast majority of it taxes. I don't know what that works out to in dollars per gallon, but again, the lifestyle here is not extravagant, a 2-litre engine is considered large, and people actually walk and ride bicycles to work and school. most european calls are fairly small and efficient though I'll grant they are getting bigger. most turbos are diesel here.

[rman]

16. so what happened to the US being the richest nation in the world?

why do you think Europe ows the world, but the US does not?

[rfkrfk]

18. it's not my fault, the Euro is so high

You would think the EU would be somewhat willing
to share their windfall with the world's poor.

[rman]

22. were you asking for the US to share their windfall

when the dollar was stronger then the Euro?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

17. Do the math.... if the U.S. has 5% of the world's population and

uses 45% or so of the world's natural resources... tell me again who has the cash... who wastes it, and who won't get off their wallet unless it is for making war or for expanding global hegemony.

[rfkrfk]

19. perhaps you have a URL cite, for the 45 percent number.n/t

[HysteryDiagnosis]

21. Not perfect.... but close for now... will keep searching... my memory

can't be that bad....

On average, one American consumes as much energy as:
- 2.1 Germans
- 12.1 Columbians
- 28.9 Indians
- 127 Haitians
- 395 Ethiopians 5

http://www.sierraclub.org/population/consumption/

Only one fifth of the world's people live in industrialized countries, yet they consume more than two thirds of the planet's resources. With less than 5 percent of global population, the United States accounts for about one fourth of global consumption. A child born in a developed country will consume and pollute more over his or her lifetime than thirty to fifty children born in low-income countries.1 Resources extracted from countries other than those in which they are consumed create environmental damage far beyond local and national borders.

http://www.prb.org/Template.cfm?Section=PRB&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=9047

Population, economic, and political factors affect consumption levels and environmental impact

The world's richest countries, home to 20 percent of the world's population, account for 86 percent of total private consumption. The poorest 20 percent of the world's people account for less than 2 percent of private consumption. Environmental degradation in less developed countries is more often the result of poor people struggling to acquire basic essentials, such as food, water, shelter, and fuel. In more developed countries, environmental stress, such as pollution, is usually caused by high consumption levels and greater industrial activity. In highly developed countries, however, certain environmental pressures may subside as production efficiencies and the ability to enforce environmental regulations improve. Environmental pressures may also change due to structural shifts, such as a move from an industrial economy to a service-based economy or as pollution-causing factories are moved to other countries.

http://www.all-creatures.org/cash/cc2001-fa-population.html
While this population/environment balance certainly is not unique to the U.S., the U.S. has 5% of the world’s population but consumes 30% of the world’s natural resource base. India, which last year topped 1 billion people, would seemingly cast a larger footprint on the planet with almost four times as many people as the U.S. population of 275 million, but it’s not even close. It’s estimated the average American has an environmental impact 40 times the impact of someone from a developing country like India.

Ok... I was off... but still, these numbers are OBSCENE.

http://www.arachnoid.com/lutusp/populati.html
So, given this fantastic population increase, one might ask "What are they doing about it?" There are two answers to this question: (1) nothing, and (2) We are the "they" in the question. It makes no sense to blame third-world countries for uncontrolled population growth. America has 5% of the world's population but consumes 25% of the world's resources. So, in terms of resources used, each new American born equals five world citizens.

[Traction]

13. Screw all foreign aid

[rman]

23. wow, you must be a real lefty

-