What is your opinion on foreign aid?

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How does it benefit me that Canada or Germany (as examples) don’t contribute enough to NATO (expecting the US to cover the gap)?
 
KMC said:
How does it benefit me that Canada or Germany (as examples) don’t contribute enough to NATO (expecting the US to cover the gap)?
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How much more would you like, based on their GDP, for them to pay up?

I’m talking about foreign aid in general. Foreign aid is used to maintain diplomatic ties. And that does indeed benefit you - and me, for that matter.
 
NATO is foreign aid? I thought it is a military alliance and that is completely different from a charity organization.
 
Pretty simple: Pay what they agreed to pay. from the article:

“Only five of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 28 member countries last year met the alliance goal of spending at least 2% of their gross domestic product on defense.”

What issue do you have with expecting someone to pay their fair share?

An additional comment: Not paying your bills and having the US pick up the slack is foreign aid.
 
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I voted no because if it goes.to.a country with a horrible dictatorship, just to help, all it does is legitimize the awful govt it has. This has happened too many times for people to pretend let us just wait and see how it happens.
I live Eastern Europe and I was shocked to find out that some former communist dictators were making business and were respected by many in the West in the name of diplomacy and good business. So they were legitimized and justified by other non communist govts. Where do you draw the line? There.must be a line. So no.
 
NATO is foreign aid when member countries don’t pay their fair share, and expect the US to pick up the slack.
 
Haha, fair enough on the lolbertarian.

But anyway, yeah, I think that’s fair as far as it goes, but what if helping others helps us? For example, nation A borders nation B. B is underdeveloped. If nation A helps nation B build up its sanitation and public health services, it can decrease the likelihood of pandemics and whatnot spreading throughout B and reaching A.

Kind of a dumb example, I realize, but you get the idea.
 
Foreign aid can be good, but only if it is done in a way that benefits the people who need it. All too often, aid (when it is given as money) does not reach who it’s supposed to. It’s also got to be appropriate - see the Lake Turkana fish processing plant for more details. Another thing is often aid comes with strings attached, which can make it more difficult for the country receiving it. For example, in return for aid other countries often demand for more liberal trade policies in the future, which can disadvantage recipient countries because they essentially get taken advantage of.

Also, I know this conversation was a day ago, but bringing up the Royal Wedding has no place in this thread. It wasn’t paid for by the British public, but by the Royal Family. You can argue that perhaps they should donate themselves, but I think what they do - raising awareness and becoming patrons of causes - is maybe more important, and more sustainable in the long run.
 
KMC said:
What issue do you have with expecting someone to pay their fair share?
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What I said was, based on their GDP, what amount would you like them to pay? No, I didn’t consider the fact that of the powerful European countries, Germany is only paying 1.2% and France is at 1.8%. I was in reality thinking above what they “owe” per the treaty. Us, the UK, Greece, Poland, and someone else do pay the 2%, and if anyone thinks that the 3.6% we do pay isn’t to win influence they’re crazy.

You might be surprised to find out that there are many times I agree with the President when he says NATO is a bad deal, but then I think hold up - what would happen if we pulled out?
 
I agree we need to stay in, but other countries need to pony up.

In general, foreign aid should benefit the US in some way.
 
KMC said:
I agree we need to stay in, but other countries need to pony up.

In general, foreign aid should benefit the US in some way.
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Yes, I completely agree - and no, we shouldn’t tow the line alone.
 
In all fairness, even if the UK taxpayers did pay for the Royal Wedding, the Government could argue that it generated an enormous amount of business and economic activity that benefited the country, not to mention good publicity for the country. Just think of how many people traveled to the UK or will plan a trip there after watching the coverage. My wife set her alarm for 6:30 a.m. on that day so she could get up and watch the coverage.
 
Canvas said:
In all fairness, even if the UK taxpayers did pay for the Royal Wedding, the Government could argue that it generated an enormous amount of business and economic activity that benefited the country, not to mention good publicity for the country. Just think of how many people traveled to the UK or will plan a trip there after watching the coverage. My wife set her alarm for 6:30 a.m. on that day so she could get up and watch the coverage.
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Very true. Not only that, but the Royal Family do a lot of promoting for the country, whether it be wearing clothes made by a British designer, or highlighting charities which in turn generates interest in the cause. They have a very strong ripple effect.
 
This is what my British husband says all the time (and he is a Royalist, for the record) - that people kick and scream about “oh they’re wasting our money”…until you start talking about the tourism dollars they bring in if nothing else.

They do a lot of good for the UK and a lot of other places, really, and because by their very nature they’re apolitical, I think they’re often more effective in the long run.

And I’ll go out on a limb here and say I think that in Diana’s wake, they’ve actually been stepping up their game - which of course we expected of her two sons, but many of the others have followed suit.
 
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I personally have virtually no interest in the Royal Family (although I did like seeing the Household Calvary regiments, the two senior regiments of the British Army, in their full dress in the parade—the British regimental system is complicated but fascinating. Each regiment of the British Army has it’s own identity, their own symbols, badges—even their own neckties! ), but there are millions of people around the world who were obsessed with this wedding, or the last wedding or the royal babies
 
:wink:As long as you’re not one of those “sovereign citizen” nutters
 
I’m not. Just one who thinks that freedom and peace are more than just words.
 
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