"[C]onsidered as a percentage of gross national income (which is essentially the more familiar gross domestic product plus or minus income from other countries), you'll have to go to the bottom of the list to find the United States. We note that none of the countries gives more than 1 percent of GNI. The U.S. gave 0.18 percent. By comparison, here's how some of the European biggies fared: United Kingdom, 0.43 percent; Germany, 0.38 percent; France, 0.39 percent; Spain, 0.43 percent. In other words, it's fair to say the United States is providing about half as much development assistance as European countries, as a percentage of GNI."
I'm surprised the Nordic countries are not mentioned above as I know, from previous research, that Sweden, for example, is far more generous than the United States. I also remember reading, from previous research, that U.S. aid is often given in ways that actually help the U.S. economy as much as it helps the countries receiving the aid--i.e., its contributions were not in actual dollars but in commodities that would otherwise rot in U.S. warehouses. An analogy here would be to make a moral comparison between Bill Gates giving one million of his many billions to charity and another giver with two million in assets who gives one million of it to charity. Hardly the same may I suggest, although I apologize to Gates for using him in my analogy as he is a man I admire greatly for his very generous charitable giving.
What can I say to my reader other than to stop believing everything you read particularly if your primary news source is Fox. Read all sides of an issue by consulting many sources not just those that agree with your own views.
Although we have a tendency to disagree, I would like to take a moment and wish you a safe and enjoyable trip. Look forward to your next commentary.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in East Africa in 1979, any Scandinavian citizen could get into an African country without a visa.
ReplyDeleteSudan's visa application was two double sided legal size pages and if I had not known someone who knew people in
Sudan , I would not have gotten a visa at least quickly.
A Dutch woman, with whom I talked at the airport glowed about Tanzania despite her war stories. Those countries give a much larger percent of their gdp to african and other third world countries.
Easily done when you are not participating or defending another country in a war.
ReplyDeleteDefending another country--you must be kidding! I doubt the citizens of Iraq would call it defense nor those of Afghanistan or any of the other countries we've destroyed. Do read a bit more before shedding your ignorance so blithely.
ReplyDelete