US Aid
- March 27, 2003
- 2 comments
Find me another country who gives to the international community as much as the US does. People are always whining how the US hasn’t done anything for the world, or hasn’t done enough. No other country does as much as the US. No one.
Notice I didn’t say we gave more money than other countries. I specifically said we did more, meaning projects in different countries. I’ve read before that Japan gives about $3 billion more than the US or something like that. Now that I reread my entry, I see I should’ve been more clear on that.
Quality over quantity. US aid is given to certain places and in certain amounts because of waste by different countries. Bill Clinton and others spoke about this last year. Specific projects need to be created in order for US aid to increase. If you look at responsible use of money, the person, organization or country asking for the money needs to show BEFOREHAND how it plans on using the money and in what amounts. Then reports and inspections need to be ongoing during and after the duration of that project to see if the money is being used responsibly. No one in their right mind keeps giving a lump sum to someone who continually wastes it. It may make the giving country feel better about itself that it simply gives with no questions asked, but that is irresponsible, especially to the poor people in the countries who abuse foreign aid. The rich in those countries continue to sponge off of foreign aid while the poor keep dying.
If measured as a percentage of respective economies, many many countries give more than the US (see Japan and almost every Western European country, Canada, etc). US foreign aid is also tied to US interests and corporate wishes much more than other countries. There seems to be a persistant myth that the US gives more aid than other countries, probably left over from our exemplary efforts after WWII