Posted by gromit on September 7, 2005, at 19:33:33
In reply to Re: will anyone help? » gromit, posted by alexandra_k on September 6, 2005, at 22:51:38
> because they are so much more worthy of american aid. because america is the richest country in the world and if anybody has a responsibility to american citizens suffering from natural disaster the american government does.
I guess we are the "richest" country in the world, we also spend far more on foreign aid than anybody else. The next 3 countries combined still spend less on aid than us. So now you're going to mention a small percentage of gross income right? The next place country, I believe Japan, gives just a few hundreds of a percent more than us. Where are all the people bashing Japan? They aren't being bashed because they don't deserve to be bashed either. BTW, according to the figures I've seen New Zealand is also just a few hundreds of a percent ahead of the US. This is from memory but I think it's fairly accurate, if you doubt it I will try to find the sites again.
I don't expect people to come rushing to our aid, I'm just surprised at the strong negative attitude towards Americans. I guarantee if New Zealand had a disaster like this the US along with other countries would be there for them.
To quote another post, "we are looking at an area the size of Great Britain that has been devastated". If you want to complain about this administration's foreign policy I'll be right there beside you (and domestic policy is no better) but your posts along with some others on this subject almost make me feel guilty to be an American.
Rick
poster:gromit
thread:548858
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20050728/msgs/552006.html