How much the people care

I'm amazed at how much the people of the nations that held telethons for Tsunami relief brought together.

Goverments already gave incredible sums from the citizens tax money, yet the people themselves still find a way to match or surpass the amount the goverments gave, all by themselves trough all sorts of actions.

Telethon and actions related to it so far made:

Netherlands €112.144.000,- (+/-$150M) (Population 16.3M)
Belgium €40.000.000,- (+/-$53M) (Population 10.3M)
Germany €150.000.000,-(+/-$199M) (Population 82.4M)
France €98.373.842,-(+/-$130M) (Population 60.4M)
USA €7.500.000,-(+/-$10M) (Population 293.0M)

Thats just from the country's I know the numbers from.

Everyone, I think an applause is in order for people all around the world for going into their pockets to send even more money, goods and aid to the Tsunami ravished teritories then was sent by their goverments.

i found it funny that the sum of aid that usa gave was less than the cost of the parties for celebrating george w second term. =)...
-ap

This thread is about what the people give, not the goverments.

After a terifying and record braking disaster season in the US itself(Florida 3ple Huracane Bash) I think its still commendable that they found it in themselves to give 10 Million $ in private donations during that 2 hour show.

i think that the people of the UK have raised in the region of £80-£90m

we were faster to donate money the our government

Daystar: and that during a period where the UK itself is having some flooding problems hu.

Congrats.

Or how much the people are suspectible to group and media psychology. Sorry, I am just rather sick of seeing Tsunamis appeals everywhere I look and even sicker when we see people bragging about how much their people gave. It's not as if this is the first time there has been a disaster or people homeless and without food.

[edit on 18-1-2005 by Indigo_Child]

MMMMM Daystar: How true a word you say there "the people did donate more than the government" just didnt wanna be shown up did they!

Originally posted by Indigo_Child
It's not as if this is the first time there has been a disaster or people homeless and without food.

Very true.

The outpouring is great, but there are millions in comparable situations that will continue suffering after the recovery in SE Asia.

Originally posted by aape
i found it funny that the sum of aid that usa gave was
less than the cost of the parties for celebrating
george w second term.

Wow. I wonder if this anti-Bush comment from a foreigner
came in record time? The author of this thread was saying
how nice it was that people were giving donations, and
wham, first out of the starting gate we get this junk.

Hey buddy ... the inauguration is paid for by private donations.
In America, people are allowed to donate to what ever the hell
they want to. While I'd rather see the money going to other
things, it's theirs to do with as they please. They earned it,
they can spend it on what they want to. AND I'm sure that if
John Kerry had been elected, his coronation would have been
just as costly, if not more so.

AND NOT TO JUMP ON THE 'WHO GAVE MORE' BANDWAGON (BECAUSE
IT MAKES ME WANT TO THROW UP) -

but considering the sneer, I'll just say that the American government
gave 350 Million (that's from OUR tax money so it came from US).
In addition our military is there using helicopters and personnel
all at a high per-dia cost. Major corporations have donated
tens of millions, not to mention the airplanes donated by UPS and
the pharmacuticals donated by Johnson and Johnson. Boeing
donated 1 million and promised to match any employee donations
in addition to that initial 1 million. There are jars on every store
counter across America filled with 'spare' change from Americans.
Schools are having bake sales and kids are bringing their allowances
in to donate. Churches such as the Catholic Relief Services and
Lutheran Family Services (and others) are collecting millions of
dollars here in America for tsunami relief. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts,
Swim Teams, Soccer Teams, and the list goes on and on. The true
amount that Americans donate is so much, from so many sources
within this country, it will never be able to be counted.





[edit on 1/18/2005 by FlyersFan]

Good post FlyersFan

I almost guarantee that all the equipment, coordination, and cost of our equipment and thousands of aid workers, and officers helping in the disaster will eventually add up to much more than what we have donated in strait up cash from our own taxes. Many people fail to see this and only check the government money donations list going around. Any way, why are we competing here?.....its called pulling together and supporting. This is the single largest world wide aid donation we have ever had, and we should be applauding everyone for this great accomplishment to help each other out during time of need. Now lets keep that momentum on the other many needs.

My comment was just to compare the sums...It´s nice that all the world have pulled together on this one but i strill believe that one major disaster should not take the eyes off the other problems..example 300.000 children die every month to malaria. Nobody donates to that.
-ap