Are you willing to advocate the same for the farmers in Europe, especially given the farming subsidies that France, Germany and Britian currently have in place? Just a thought.
larry On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 11:15:32 -0400, Jochem van Dieten <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > William Bowen wrote: > >> > >> "If, actually, the foreign assistance of many countries now is 0.1 > >> or 0.2 percent of the gross national income, I think that is > >> stingy, really," he said. "I don't think that is very generous." " > > > > He's right, that isn't very generous, but at the same time, is an > > appeal for aid the right time to slap "many countries" for not being > > "very generous"? > > What better time is there? > > > >> ""The 0.2 percent of U.S. gross national product represented by > >> foreign aid obligations the past two years, however, is among the > >> smallest amounts in the last half-century. The United States is the > >> largest international economic aid donor in dollar terms but is > >> the smallest contributor among the major donor governments when > >> calculated as a percent of gross national income," said the report, > >> which is posted on the U.S. State Department's Web site." > > > > that .2% doesn't include food donations of which the US is the > > largest donor worldwide. > > Great, dump your surplusses on the market and ruin local farmers: > http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Poverty/FoodDumping.asp > > > > It also doesn't include private donations > > (individuals, non-profita and corporations)of which the US is > > responsible for ~$30 Billion per year in targeted foreign aid. > > Private donations do not offset government obligations. > > > > Unless we grant your wish and close up shop... > > Like I said, if combined with dropping subsidies for local producers (mostly > farmers) and dropping trade barriers, that would be the best long term > solution. The problem of course being that governments tend to reduce aid > decades before reducing trade barriers. > > > > I agree, and we should, additionally, lead by example and donate to > > the causes we feel will do the most good. > > Why donate? Take your business there. Book a holiday to Thailand or Sri Lanka > :) > > > > Okay, but I'll just have to go from the US government numbers, given > > that they are largely the only ones being reported. > > Google has a great site for news: http://news.google.com/ > Just skim the headlines, you don't even have to read the articles. > > Jochem > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Special thanks to the CF Community Suite Silver Sponsor - CFDynamics http://www.cfdynamics.com Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:141145 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
