Reassessing How We Look at Foreign Aid
Now, the other side is going to tell you that foreign aid is essential, that it accomplishes real results. They are going to say that foreign aid creates markets for American businesses. They are going to say that foreign aid reduces the threat of terrorism by improving quality of life. They are going to say that foreign aid helps save lives. But what they are not going to tell you is that the end of that statement is "we think".
Foreign aid creates markets, reduces terrorism, and saves lives, we think. But the dark truth of foreign aid is that it seems to accomplish none of these things and instead engenders a belief that the people we send aid to are somehow less human than we here in the developed world. Most of our aid is politically driven and the na've donations of private citizens do not help alleviate the conditions of the poor and abject citizens of the developing world, and instead only really help the donors be able to sleep more soundly at night.$300 billion and we have accomplished nothing. So maybe its time to change the way we think foreign aid works, or rather doesn't.
Foreign aid creates markets, reduces terrorism, and saves lives, we think. But the dark truth of foreign aid is that it seems to accomplish none of these things and instead engenders a belief that the people we send aid to are somehow less human than we here in the developed world. Most of our aid is politically driven and the na've donations of private citizens do not help alleviate the conditions of the poor and abject citizens of the developing world, and instead only really help the donors be able to sleep more soundly at night.$300 billion and we have accomplished nothing. So maybe its time to change the way we think foreign aid works, or rather doesn't.
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Yi-An Huang
posted 11/21/09 @ 11:00 AM EST
The broad strokes here are absolutely correct, and I think there's a desperate need to re-examine how we are funding, implementing, and evaluating foreign aid. (Continued…)
book report writers
posted 11/24/09 @ 6:58 AM EST
Th? author laid a finger with this article. That's true: we need a complete re-evaluation of the problem. We need to stop using tried and untrue methods when addressing the priorities of foreign aid. (Continued…)
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