Tuesday, December 28, 2004

Tough end to '04.

Tsunami dead numbering over 50K as of today. That's really sad. The U. S. rushes to send aid and all the UN can say is that we're selfish. From what I've seen, we are one of the most generous countries in the world. The $ 35 million the government has sent so far is only a start. That doesn't count all the support from private relief organizations or individuals.

Where was all the world aid when Florida got hammered with one hurricane after another? I didn't see any reports of Germany, France, Saudi Arabia or others rushing to help us. And now we are the stingy bastards? Sometimes I wonder why we do help. Of course it's because we are NOT stingy that we always do help. I'm proud of America and all it's generous people!

4 comments:

MTPolitics said...

Seems like those who claim that the US is stingy only look at what the government chips in, not private donations.

STAG said...

The US is NOT stingy. I bet the fellow who said that now regrets it. I hope so...because it just aint so.

spoken by a Canadian who DID help in Florida, and will jump to help again if needed.

mars rover said...

Official Development Assistance (ODA) from 2000 to 2003 Select a linked column heading to change sort order
ODA in U.S. Dollars (Millions) ODA as GNP Percentage
Country 2000 2001 2002 2003 2000 2001 2002 2003
1. Australia 995 852 962 1,237 0.27 0.25 0.25 0.25
2. Austria 461 457 475 503 0.25 0.25 0.23 0.2
3. Belgium 812 866 1,061 1,887 0.36 0.37 0.42 0.61
4. Canada 1,722 1,572 2,013 2,209 0.25 0.23 0.28 0.26
5. Denmark 1,664 1,599 1,632 1,747 1.06 1.01 0.96 0.84
6. Finland 371 389 466 556 0.31 0.33 0.35 0.34
7. France 4,221 4,293 5,182 7,337 0.33 0.34 0.36 0.41
8. Germany 5,034 4,879 5,359 6,694 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.28
9. Greece 216 194 295 356 0.19 0.19 0.22 0.21
10. Ireland 239 285 397 510 0.3 0.33 0.41 0.41
11. Italy 1,368 1,493 2,313 2,393 0.13 0.14 0.2 0.16
12. Japan 13,062 9,678 9,220 8,911 0.27 0.23 0.23 0.2
13. Luxembourg 116 142 143 189 0.7 0.8 0.78 0.8
14. Netherlands 3,075 3,155 3,377 4,059 0.82 0.82 0.82 0.81
15. New Zealand 116 111 124 169 0.26 0.25 0.23 0.23
16. Norway 1,264 1,346 1,746 2,043 0.8 0.83 0.91 0.92
17. Portugal 261 267 282 298 0.26 0.25 0.24 0.21
18. Spain 1,321 1,748 1,608 2,030 0.24 0.3 0.25 0.25
19. Sweden 1,813 1,576 1,754 2,100 0.81 0.76 0.74 0.7
20. Switzerland 888 908 933 1,297 0.34 0.34 0.32 0.38
21. United Kingdom 4,458 4,659 4,749 6,166 0.31 0.32 0.3 0.34
22. United States 9,581 10,884 12,900 15,791 0.1 0.11 0.12 0.14


Why are we last then in international aid to developing countries as a percentage of GNP?

Rocky Smith said...

I would say that is due to the U.S. having the largest GNP of any country in the world. And again, does that count private contributions? And who's armed forces are on the ground over there providing delivery of the aid along with many other good deeds. You can think the worst if you like, but I'm confident this nation does a lot for the less fortunate sectors of the world. We have two former Presidents in the tsunami area today. They are working to raise funding as well as awareness of the plight of these people. I get the impression some people wouldn't be satisfied no matter how much we do.