Foreign Aid - What do you think?

[Chipp]

Recently, the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has taken a lot of criticism from Canadians for his performance at the G8 Summit. One of the issues that he is criticized for is for not pushing for increased foreign aid. However, I do not understand this.

I do not support Foreign Aid and I believe public funds has no place in funding warlords in Africa. I believe that altruism should not be mandatory and hard-earned taxed dollars should only fund national interests. With that said, throwing more money at the problems in developing countries is not in the interest of Canada. Quite frankly, the issues that Africa and other developing countries face do not concern me as much as some guilt-trippers would want me to.

What is your opinion of Foreign Aid? Should countries contribute more or less to developing countries?

[Big War Bird]

Foreign Aid isn't really altruistic, its buy friends and indulgences.

[Chipp]

Foreign Aid isn't really altruistic, its buy friends and indulgences.

I don't think giving foreign aid necessarily buys any useful friends. What can Zimbabwe offer developed nations?

I think, the heck with countries who don't like us. Let's give aid to our friends, like Israel and some of the south and central African nations. They need it, and their people love us.

I think my position differs slightly from yours. I don't even really believe we should give aid to Israel and other allies. I have no problem trading with these countries, but I don't think we should just give money away in return for nothing.

[jankren]

I think my position differs slightly from yours. I don't even really believe we should give aid to Israel and other allies. I have no problem trading with these countries, but I don't think we should just give money away in return for nothing.

Israel is a key satellite in the Middle East for USA though in my opinion it actually causes much more problems than benefits for US and A.

Anyway, Im against financial aid. But Im for material aid. Dont you feel any sympathy for countless kids in Africa who are suffering from hunger and AIDS? How can they survive without donated foreign foods and medicines? If you dont then okay its your right not to care.

[Shi Huangdi]

I think my position differs slightly from yours. I don't even really believe we should give aid to Israel and other allies. I have no problem trading with these countries, but I don't think we should just give money away in return for nothing.

Ordinarily, yes. I would say that about countries like Britain and Australia, who are our friends but don't really need help. Israel, though, is a tiny country surrounded by enemies, and we have a high stakes in their safety. I think it's good that we give them lots of aid.

[czePowerslave]

Against. Not about ever paying back.

[Shi Huangdi]

I think, the heck with countries who don't like us. Let's give aid to our friends, like Israel and some of the south and central African nations. They need it, and their people love us.

[pajomife]

There are a lack of money.

[roy34543]

I don't think giving foreign aid necessarily buys any useful friends. What can Zimbabwe offer developed nations

Raw manpower, More stability in the region and most importantly raw goods like daimonds and gold and sugar cane
Zimbabwe is rich in resources. And besides it would be good to have it as a friend if an attack on one of the other african countries is needed.

I think my position differs slightly from yours. I don't even really believe we should give aid to Israel and other allies. I have no problem trading with these countries, but I don't think we should just give money away in return for nothing.

It is a trade in a sense. For the president you get some voters ... But you also get Israels full strategical support . I suppose a better question would be is if all those funds are a worthy trade .

[Lord Consul]

G8 is a joke. How can a self-proclaimed "group of leading industrial nations" exclude China and include Russia, Canada and Italy?

[roy34543]

Its the Rich mans 1948 style club. Of course its a joke.

[Captain Blackadder]

I dislike the current form of foreign aid it is like pouring money down a sink-hole I always preferred the idea of give a man a fish and it will feed him for a day teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime. So they need education as opposed to money which is easily taken by corrupt governments.

[Erik]

I dislike the current form of foreign aid it is like pouring money down a sink-hole I always preferred the idea of give a man a fish and it will feed him for a day teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime. So they need education as opposed to money which is easily taken by corrupt governments.

Tell me, where did you learn what "the current form of foreign aid" actually is?

Just wondering, because from all that I have heard and seen (note: my father leads the Dutch foreign aid effort in Western Africa, so I've come to learn a lot about this subject) it's already all about "teaching people to fish".

[roy34543]

The thin gis that you need people to volunteer for educating. and you need to delegate that to someone.

[Tecumseh]

Contrary to popular myth, foreign aid has nothing to do with altruism. Our leaders care about poor foreign people about as much as you do (i.e. not at all for the majority of us).

Foreign aid is about keeping those poor people, or at least those who control them, at a bare minimum level of contentment. It just isn't safe for the wealthier countries of the world to have entire countries of poor people with nothing to lose and who owe nothing to anyone running around. If wealthy countries gave poorer countries no money at all, the poor would, as history shows, blame the wealthier countries for their poverty. Having nothing to lose, the local rulers, or even the people themselves, would be much more likely to want to hurt us in some way for the perceived injustice of the situation.

If giving Zimbabwe 10 million dollars keeps enough people content there, or keeps content their rulers who control them, then it is a seen as a solid investment for our countries to give them that. It has nothing to do with the "poor starving children".

It's the same reason a welfare state is allowed at all by the ruling classes of wealthy nations, it's about keeping the poorest and most destitute of us just content enough that there aren't groups of people walking the streets with nothing to lose and a rich ruling class to blame(rightly or not).

[Chipp]

Contrary to popular myth, foreign aid has nothing to do with altruism. Our leaders care about poor foreign people about as much as you do (i.e. not at all for the majority of us).

Foreign aid is about keeping those poor people, or at least those who control them, at a bare minimum level of contentment. It just isn't safe for the wealthier countries of the world to have entire countries of poor people with nothing to lose and who owe nothing to anyone running around. If wealthy countries gave poorer countries no money at all, the poor would, as history shows, blame the wealthier countries for their poverty. Having nothing to lose, the local rulers, or even the people themselves, would be much more likely to want to hurt us in some way for the perceived injustice of the situation.

If giving Zimbabwe 10 million dollars keeps enough people content there, or keeps content their rulers who control them, then it is a seen as a solid investment for our countries to give them that. It has nothing to do with the "poor starving children".

Thank you for your response. I never saw foreign aid in such a cynical light before.

I suppose it is a good trade-off, but I still think that third-world countries won't attack us just because we are richer than them. They won't attack unless we give them reason to, not to mention, MOST of those countries don't even have the means necessary. Terrorism is a whole different can of worms.

And on the whole, I'm surprised this many actually share my opinion. At my school, my friends are very proactive in their support for foreign aid and have held several events to try to guilt us into supporting their cause. Out of spite, I wrote a speech for my English class on the failures of Foreign Aid.

[Evil Maniac From Mars]

And on the whole, I'm surprised this many actually share my opinion. At my school, my friends are very proactive in their support for foreign aid and have held several events to try to guilt us into supporting their cause. Out of spite, I wrote a speech for my English class on the failures of Foreign Aid.

Educate them on how foreign aid actually works and where a lot of the money ends up going - though I suppose you already have educated your English class.

[antaeus]

the point of aid is to help developing countries to get to a point where they can be successful trading partners. its an investment in the long term economy of both the giving and receiving nations.

of course i think there needs to be significant measures in place to ensure that aid given is balanced off by improvements in infrastructure, political freedom and economic sustainability - without guarantees and progress reports you might as well be stuffing money into the pockets of dictators... or the pockets of dodgy businessmen.

so i am for aid - as long as there is accountability for how its spent and where it goes.

- its the whole "give a man a fish and he eats for a day, give him a net and he eats for a lifetime and maybe sells some of the surplus and buys a fishing boat with the proceeds and gets more fish and sells some to us for cheaper than the japanese do" kind of deal.

[Yorkshireman]

its the whole "give a man a fish and he eats for a day, give him a net and he eats for a lifetime and maybe sells some of the surplus and buys a fishing boat with the proceeds and gets more fish and sells some to us for cheaper than the japanese do" kind of deal.

Everybody that lives in Africa must own a fishing net by now, even those who live in the Sahara desert. Maybe we need to send somebody to teach them how to fish.

[Kanaric]

I think, the heck with countries who don't like us. Let's give aid to our friends, like Israel and some of the south and central African nations. They need it, and their people love us.

Israel doesn't need foreign aid however we should give more to friendly African nations and cut off all money going to countries like Saudi Arabia.