charity begins at home?

[barcelonic]

I have to say Im a little surprised reading some of these posts. For me, the world is divided into many nations for no other reason than politics and religion. But we are all the same.

I don't understand why people suffering in our country need to be addressed before people suffering far, far worse elsewhere.

We have raped the third world over and over again and continue to do so. They try to sell their resources but because of their economies we don't pay them what their produce is worth we pay them the very minimum they will accept, which when people are starving isnt very much at all.

The poorest people in the UK are living a life of luxury compared to people in the third world, and so it blows my mind when I hear "we should look after our own countrymen first". Why should we exactly? Because they have been lucky enough to be born into the same country as you and I? Because years ago rulers conquered lands and drew invisible borders on maps? Doesnt that seem a little odd to you? Or is it simply because you don't want to see poverty on your own doorstep?

And as for "the money just gets robbed by the warlords/leaders", that is ALWAYS going to happen unless we in the developed world pay a lot more attention to solving poverty issues in the third world. Stopping sending them aid is simply NOT the answer, that will make things far worse.

A friend sent me this the other day, perhaps you'll find it interesting. It is certainly very relevant here (bold is mine):

Ahead of UN General Assembly's high-level summit on the economic crisis on June 24-26, UN Millennium Campaign says new analysis indicates that finding money for aid is a matter of political will - not lack of resources - and calls on donors to finally meet their aid commitments
June 23, 2009 - The United Nations Millennium Campaign today released an analysis showing that since the inception of aid (overseas development assistance) almost 50 years ago, donor countries have given some $2 trillion in aid. And yet over the past year, $18 trillion has been found globally to bail out banks and other financial institutions. The amount of total aid over the past 49 years represents just eleven percent of the money found for financial institutions in one year. The UN Millennium Campaign is urgently calling on rich countries gathering at this week's high-level summit on the economic crisis to make no further excuses that they lack resources and to urgently deliver on their aid commitments.
"The stark contrast between the money dispersed to the world's desperately poor after 49 years of painstaking summits and negotiations and the staggering sums found virtually overnight to bail out the creators of the global economic crisis makes it impossible for governments to any longer claim that the world can't find the money to help the 50,000 people who are dying of extreme poverty every day," said Salil Shetty, Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign. "This is a straightforward question of political will. Rich countries' priorities will become crystal clear at this week's summit on the economic crisis, where we hope they will finally deliver on the aid they have repeatedly pledged but not delivered to those who need it most."
Worse still, the global economic crisis is expected to further impact the delivery of aid to poor countries at a time when the need is greatest. Already, the consequences of the crisis, caused by the richest people in the richest countries, are being disproportionately borne by poor countries. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the economic crisis has resulted in 100 million more people going hungry, taking the total number of hungry people in the world to a staggering one billion. At the same time, only $9.4 billion of the $28.3 billion -- less than a third -- pledged at the Gleneagles Summit in 2005 to be delivered to Sub-Saharan Africa by 2010, has actually been delivered.
The Millennium Campaign believes any discussions of a new financial architecture must be inclusive of the voices and needs of the poor. The Campaign is therefore calling on donor countries to immediately and unconditionally do the following:

* Urgently agree to a timetable to accelerate delivery of their aid commitments.
* Make rapid progress toward achieving the Paris Declaration and Accra Agenda to simplify and streamline aid, including a clear timetable for implementation of existing commitments.
* Reduce and/or eliminate all trade-distorting agricultural subsidies.
* Ensure that poor countries are fully represented in all decision making bodies and in the restructuring of the global financial infrastructure.

The Millennium Campaign is calling on poor countries to immediately do the following:

* Ensure that national development policies and plans are pro-poor and focused on women and excluded groups.
* Prioritize expenditures on the Millennium Development Goals.
* Ensure accountability and transparency in the management of public money.
* Prioritize domestic resource mobilization.

[bmh16]

As i see it barca though corruption rules other countries, and that is why so many countries are poor. We give money to them an it goes no where, whilst in this one at least it won't be corrupted.

[barcelonic]

Originally Posted by bmh16

As i see it barca though corruption rules other countries, and that is why so many countries are poor. We give money to them an it goes no where, whilst in this one at least it won't be corrupted.

you think third world countries are poor because of corruption? the truth is the corruption is a result of poverty. in fact, leaders of the developed world are corrupt too although they dont take money directly from their people perhaps.

should we make the people of those countries suffer because their leaders are corrupt? if we allow their produce to be worth its true value then they will have more than enough money to develop their nation. it is so defeatist and unfair on the people there to stop sending them aid and to abolish any attempt at enforcing free trade agreements simply because their leaders are corrupt.

[Sachmo_51_6]

Originally Posted by barcelonic

In fact, leaders of the developed world are corrupt too although they dont take money directly from their people perhaps.

Cough Cough...MP's expenses...taxpayers money...cough cough

[the_icks]

3 words for this thread

"redistribution of wealth"

[the_icks]

Originally Posted by the_icks

3 words for this thread

"redistribution of wealth"

and on a small scale Redistribution of wealth 'will save lives' | Society | The Guardian

imagine that on a large scale, we are not talking anarchy, but why should bono and cronies ask me to donate when there are people 'earning' enough to prevent world starvation in an instant.

imagine if everyone who got their money back from a michael jackson ticket gave £5 to a charity as a tribute?