Like in the past, natural disasters always bring out the wonderful game of who can spend the most to help the poor. It’s like some kind of national contest to see who can be the mostest generous world leader ever. I blame that United Nations guy who called the initial efforts the United States for the tsunami to be “stingy.” We should have immediately stopped payment on the initial 15 million, pulled out our military, stopped all contributions to the United Nations for that year, and put that guy’s face up during the press conference to tell the world that we would not tolerate such nonsense.
Instead our gullible leaders are suckered into giving tax money they don’t have, which means they’ve borrowed it from China, all to appease a bunch of pompous buttholes who will hate us no matter what our leaders do. Maybe we can just borrow a roll of hundred dollars bills and shove it down their collective throats. It would be a better investment in our money (Just kidding, I don’t like wanton acts of violence that would ultimately serve no purpose other than amusement).
In light of what’s happened in Haiti, I believe it is high time that we reevaluate our foreign aid policies. Originally, these were designed to help those nations who were poverty-stricken and in dire need of help. The idea was to give them money and hope that they will be able to bring about a more prosperous set of third-world nations.
That hasn’t happened. The nations we give money too are, at best, marginally better off than they were before we started giving them money, especially in comparison to how we have become more prosperous in that same time period. In fact, many nations that have not received financial aid from the United States or other European nations have become much more prosperous on the whole in comparison to those that have over the same time period. I guess this is a great example of progress through hard work rather than handouts.
Foreign aid really is nothing more than foreign welfare. In fact, that’s what we should start calling it. It has not ‘aided’ any nation as far as I can tell as there continues to be debilitating poverty in the third world. No government can bring heaven on Earth any more than you or I can, so dumping money into something that isn’t working is a huge waste of money, resources, and time.
As such, I think we should do the complete opposite of what we are doing with the third world. I propose we do the following:
- Eliminate all foreign aid to all nations, regardless of their economic condition. From Palestine to Haiti, it is high time we not give them money just because they are poor. In fact, by giving them money, I believe we are only encouraging them to stay in a state of perpetual poverty. Even if we build infrastructure, they will not use it properly because they do not gain it out of necessity. Japan, for example, built its industrial status up at the turn of the century without foreign aid, but through hard work.
- Stop funding the United Nations. It is an organization that is all about keeping the rest of the world in poverty and openly declares that it should bring about a one-world government in some form. It has become a forum where tyrannical despots get to badmouth the United States, the wealthiest and most generous of all nations, as the greediest and most tyrannical of all nations.
- Dismantle the International Monetary Fund and forgive all debts owed to third world nations. You cannot build a prosperous economy from that kind of debt. Most often, this fund is used to loan money to thugs and dictators who don’t care about the future well-being of their citizens. From a business standpoint, loaning any money to any nation is stupid because what do you do if they default on that loan? Foreclose on their country?
I am disappointed that the Obama administration continues to follow the foreign policy agenda of the Bush administration in this. I am not surprised that this occurs, because of the inside the beltway mentality, but I had hoped that Obama might change some things like this. Fortunately, I’m a natural pessimist and skeptic, so I’m not suicidal or anything.
As for the recent tragedy in Haiti, I would recommend we do nothing for the sake of compassion. A good parent knows when it is time for his child to leave the nest and make their own. In the same way, by denying them help and aid, we may actually be giving the ability to find out just how prosperous they can be on their own. There is no better feeling than when you accomplish something great on your own merit.
That is my desire for the rest of world. Whether or not they accomplish it is up to them and if we stay out of it (for the most part) we can say that we had no part in their failure or congratulate them on their success.