United States aid to Tsunami victims

[Wake up CALL]

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As self annointed leaders of the free world we should lead and not just bully.


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What has leading got to do with donating aid relief? More elitist liberal doubletalk with no true meaning.

[MelchyBeau]

Hey lets look at the big picture. This is a good sign for humanity. Look how much aid is being poured into that area.

Noone is forcing anyone to give money to these countries. One Hong Kong business man gave 3 million himself.


Here is a shameless plug. Check out the Internet forum about a tournament to help victims. Also in the General Texas Hold 'em forums there is an idea of how to donate money to help the victims.

Melch

[vulturesrow]

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As self annointed leaders of the free world we should lead and not just bully.


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What has leading got to do with donating aid relief? More elitist liberal doubletalk with no true meaning.

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All I can figure from this article that part of "leadership" is crying on camera to show how much you care about the tragedy. Defined action has no real meaning.

[The once and future king]

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if you care. U.S. is giving 35 mill. Japan is giving 40 mill.

Melch

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Actually the Japanese pledged 30 million. Check here for a complete roundup.

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So the Japs are giving a lot more per capita then.

[vulturesrow]

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if you care. U.S. is giving 35 mill. Japan is giving 40 mill.

Melch

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Actually the Japanese pledged 30 million. Check here for a complete roundup.

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So the Japs are giving a lot more per capita then.

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Bully for Japan. I wonder if we should count the cost of the Navy vessels and personnel we are sending to aid in relief efforts. Also one piece of useful informatio in ACplayers link said that the initial pledge is just that, an initial donation. More will be donated once an assessment is done of the situation. I doubt many smaller countries will go beyond what they have already pledged.

[The once and future king]

Just for the record the Brits are giving 27 Million that works out at alot MORE per capita.

In relation to its size and wealth the USA is perhaps one of the stingiest countries in the world when it comes to forieghn aid. You can go on assuming the opposite.

[vulturesrow]

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Just for the record the Brits are giving 27 Million that works out at alot MORE per capita.

In relation to its size and wealth the USA is perhaps one of the stingiest countries in the world when it comes to forieghn aid. You can go on assuming the opposite.

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I am not assuming anything. The primary post I made in this thread had to do with the donations of private individuals and charitable organizations. Frankly, the American government doesnt need to give as much per capita because American citizens do it on their own! Secondly, if you look at the OECD statistics mentioned in ACPlayers linked article, the USA comes in 22 with .14 percent of GDP. The "top dog" in the group donates .92 percent. Sorry, but to me, the difference between those two percentages are truly an exercise in picking flyshit out of pepper. Also please reread the part where I wrote that the 35 million figure is only the initial, "oh crap" money so to speak. You can be sure the the US government will provide more. Also as bad as this tragedy is, it isnt the be all and end all of foreign assistance. Our government gives lots of money each year to many different organizations.

Two questions to anyone that wants to answer them:

1) As in my previous post, do you think the cost of sending US military assets to assist in rescue efforts should be included in our monetary assessment?

2) What is the correct percentage a country should donate to foreign aid? 5%? 10? 20? Point being, there is no standard, and .14 percent of the US GDP is a hell of a lot more than .whatever of many smaller economies in absolute terms.

[The once and future king]

Seeing it would take 5 Earths to sustain the consumption of your average North American (If every human was to consume the same) they are in position to be a lot more generous.

[vulturesrow]

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Seeing it would take 5 Earths to sustain the consumption of your average North American (If every human was to consume the same) they are in position to be a lot more generous.

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No answers to the questions I posed. Merely some handwringing about how much we consume. I take your post to mean (since you gave no real amplification) that since Americans in general are a much more prosperous society that we give more and do more (that is, volunteer work) just because we can. Of course that begs the question of why such heartless consumers would use their resources in philanthropic causes rather than just consuming more.

[The once and future king]

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Of course that begs the question of why such heartless consumers would use their resources in philanthropic causes rather than just consuming more.


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Is that a question? I am not saying they are hartless just that they have enough recources to be able to afford to be a lot more genorous. Tight as a gnats chuff the lot of you.