I'm reluctant to point this out as a European on a board mostly populated by Americans, but I'm going to anyway. But please be aware that it's not meant as some kind of attack (or at least if it is, it's an attack on the developed world generally). I just think it's an important fact to be aware of in this very interesting debate.

Most Americans I speak to are under the impression that the US is a huge global contributor to foreign aid. The US is actually ranked last out of the 22 developed nations in foreign aid donations. It gives 15c on every $100 of gross national income. The average is 33c and the table is topped by the Norway at 92c.

Personally I feel like every nation in the world that can afford to, and any individual who can, should be doing much more than we are. I've never met a single other person who has travelled around Africa who would say different, we just pretend it's not there.