 masbury says: Most Americans drastically over-estimate it. Despite laudable recent increases in US giving to poverty, US aid as a percent of personal income is second to last among wealthy nations; most of that doesn't go to the poorest countries. We give about 25 cents per American per [oops, sorry I wrote per year should be per day] day in foreign aid; with private giving, another dime. It's a lot, because there are a lot of us. But it's far behind the level of sacrifice made by people in most developed nations. Wow! This is really news to me... with private giving, another dime.That doesn't mesh. As a % of GNI the US ranks 7th among nations in total giving. Sweden 1.19, Netherlands 1.17, Luxemburg 1.07, Norway 1.06, Denmark 1.01, Canada 1.00, United States .98 Of course as a total, we decimate the field. United States 122.80 billion, United Kingdom 19.81 billion Further when you take out "phantom aid" the Government Aid chart changes a bit also. The US would then rank 16th. And of course as a total we decimate the field: United States 27.62 billion, Japan 13.15 billion. Also it is worth mentioning: "Under the second Bush administration, U.S. official development assistance (ODA) has expanded more than that of an... Oh and as charitable giving in general we sit at 306.39 billion in 2007. Or $1,017.00 per person. (total/population). Most of that foreign "aid" comes with to many strings attached. Let's not forget that the typical American contribution requires that only 'american' transport and contractors can be used. In one study, it was shown that fully 40% of the "gift" ended up in the pockets of American consultants and transportation companies...nice mw - that is an excellent comment! Much of the money comes right back to the USA rather than developing the economy of the nation to whom it's given. My apologies - I wrote 25 cents per year when it should have been per day. I don't think I computed any totals from that, though, so the remainder stands. Bit - good comments, thanks for raising the questions. And I agree completely that GWB has raised the bar on foreign aid. Part of this may be due to the influence of Colin Powell, who wisely say poverty as a national security issue. But certainly Bush should get credit. Bit: Oh and as charitable giving in general we sit at 306.39 billion in 2007. Or $1,017.00 per person. (total/population).I'd guess that most charitable giving is rather unrelated to the world's poor. Think of all the foundations for this and that there are, some of which do good work, others of which provide merely a questionable tax haven. Though I don't know a lot about it, I have skepticism about the Clinton Foundation, for instance. Then, think of the vast amount of charitable giving that goes to administration - in some cases, perhaps 90% of the gift. We support a gazillion good things through charitable giving (God knows, my own salary has come from it for more th... The goal of developed countries spending 0.7 percent of their GNP on aid has not been met by most countries. The New York Times noted this week that The aggregate aid budget of the most developed nations amounts to 0.28 percent of their gross national income ... The United States, shamefully, is at the bottom of the list, spending 0.16 percent of its income on development assistance. The purpose of government is not charity. Rockefeller uses this all the time (and he is very rich) to justify spending taxpayers money on foreign aid. Giving should be strictly voluntary or else its called stealing. Government is not a church offering plate, it is a tax collector. The money belongs to the people, not the government. The people do not forfeit how their taxes are used, Congress does not have carte blanch to do what they want. Government spending can only be used for lawful purposes within the Constitution. Give to international charity if you want to give. Government is the worst trustee anyway. As convenient an excuse for selfishness as any. But taxation isn't stealing, and no judge has held it unconstitutional. That kind of talk only works in conventions. Meanwhile, today 25,000 mothers saw their children suffer and die, and knew the only reason was that they had less luck than you and me. The USA could end it in six months, but it won't. So call taxation stealing if you like. But turning our backs on dying babies, when we could have prevented their deaths? I call that murder. And I'd willingly steal to stop it. |
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