America rushing to aid to far east while cutting aid to own citizens

boymonkey74
reply to post by Happy1

 

It isn't just the US many countries are sending aid. (plus 90 marines isn't going to break the bank for the USA is it?)

www.interaksyon.com...

All countries doing their bit will be seen by the people there as a savior not just the USA...

edit on 12-11-2013 by boymonkey74 because: (no reason given)

An aircraft carrier with 5,000 sailers is io it's way, plus four more ships are being sent soon.
Nugget

OK, so our government seems inept when it comes to taking care of their own however, there is no way our country is the richest in the world when we have the largest debt, ever.

The selfishness of some of the post is down right appalling. 99% percent of the posters have never gone through a cat 5 typhoon and have no clue of the destruction it leaves behind. All you see is censored video from the media and not the full effect.

Posters cry about food stamp cuts, you better thank God you have food stamps as the majority of the world does not and goes to bed hungry every night. What about the street kids there???? Oh that's right, people call them street urchins because they have to beg for food and sleep on sidewalks and back allies at night. Where are they today? They are part of the debris scattered over the landscape and you cry about a food stamp cut.

Sorry for the rant but I have friends in Leyte and a good friend that has a mate there that just lost everything so all those crying about the US helping the victims instead of keeping their $40 food stamp rather chaps my arse.

wantsome
I see the US is sending tons of aid to the far east in wake of the typhoon disaster yet they cut food stamp aid here. I'm disabled through no fault of my own and struggling to survive in the richest country on earth. They cut food stamps by 47 million yet we're rushing to aid the Philippines. How about we fix our problems at home before we try solving the worlds problems.

With an attitude like yours, I hope that you continue to struggle.

Gosh,they've just been hit by another typhoon!
I sure hope help gets there soon.
Nugget

pstrronText

Posters cry about food stamp cuts, you better thank God you have food stamps as the majority of the world does not and goes to bed hungry every night. What about the street kids there???? Oh that's right, people call them street urchins because they have to beg for food and sleep on sidewalks and back allies at night. Where are they today? They are part of the debris scattered over the landscape and you cry about a food stamp cut.

Sorry for the rant but I have friends in Leyte and a good friend that has a mate there that just lost everything so all those crying about the US helping the victims instead of keeping their $40 food stamp rather chaps my arse.

what hit them was like an F-4 tornado, 200miles wide.

most of my friends are from there. prayers sent.

sorry, i did something wrong. i seem to have deleted what i wanted to bold.

my apologies.

what's really messed up is my tax dollars go to pay for BOTH the disaster relief AND the food stamps

right? somebody that likely doesn't pay taxes complaining about what happens with tax dollars, who'd a thunk it

Well done America then. Good for them. I'm sure the amount of aid they're sending is a tiny percentage of the planned expiration (not cut) of the benefits.

It's a strange situation for the USA to be in. Nearly everyone hates them now, all the way around the globe, until sh!t like this happens and then everyone expects them to immediately send aid.

hammanderr
reply to post by wantsome

 

OP, I completely agree with you, I wouldn't vote for the US to give them a penny. If individuals want to give their time and money that is great, I applaud them! But why is our government handing our money to foreigners? Makes no sense. If you want to give to the Phillipines, good on you, you're a good person. US government, you have a job to do, focus on that job instead of getting real generous with our cash.

This way of thinking is staggering in my view.. you're definitely coming from a mindset that is alien to me. These are human beings and they have nothing, hundreds of thousands of them homeless, the water is not even drinkable because of thousands of dead and decomposing bodies still litter the streets and is contaminating everything. It's amazing how selfish some people in America are and I myself am American. These are human beings like you and me and they are in dire need of help, borders and imaginary lines do not matter. But if that's your way of seeing things, that's your way of seeing things and to each their own.

To be clear though, in no way do I support the BILLIONS we give to the foreign governments and militaries of Pakistan, Israel and Saudis etc.. Not to mention the trillions we spend on wars and inventing new machinery to kill people efficiently. Money that could obviously be used for much greater and dire purposes domestically and abroad. Seeing that the Marine Corps is being sent to help people in need was actually refreshing to see. our military resources actually being used for something good. gives me some kind of hope for the leaders in office decision making process which is normally backward, corrupted and full of ulterior motives.. I hope this one at least is genuine act of care for our fellow human beings in need of our help.

Just my 2 cents

hammanderr
reply to post by wantsome

 

OP, I completely agree with you, I wouldn't vote for the US to give them a penny. If individuals want to give their time and money that is great, I applaud them! But why is our government handing our money to foreigners? Makes no sense. If you want to give to the Phillipines, good on you, you're a good person. US government, you have a job to do, focus on that job instead of getting real generous with our cash.

Comments like this sum up why I didn't give a single penny to New Orleans after Katrina.

Americans have this view of the rest of the world, I say # the US in return.

SecTownKid

hammanderr
reply to post by wantsome

 

OP, I completely agree with you, I wouldn't vote for the US to give them a penny. If individuals want to give their time and money that is great, I applaud them! But why is our government handing our money to foreigners? Makes no sense. If you want to give to the Phillipines, good on you, you're a good person. US government, you have a job to do, focus on that job instead of getting real generous with our cash.

This way of thinking is staggering in my view.. you're definitely coming from a mindset that is alien to me. These are human beings and they have nothing, hundreds of thousands of them homeless, the water is not even drinkable because of thousands of dead and decomposing bodies still litter the streets and is contaminating everything. It's amazing how selfish some people in America are and I myself am American. These are human beings like you and me and they are in dire need of help, borders and imaginary lines do not matter. But if that's your way of seeing things, that's your way of seeing things and to each their own.

To be clear though, in no way do I support the BILLIONS we give to the foreign governments and militaries of Pakistan, Israel and Saudis etc.. Not to mention the trillions we spend on wars and inventing new machinery to kill people efficiently. Money that could obviously be used for much greater and dire purposes domestically and abroad. Seeing that the Marine Corps is being sent to help people in need was actually refreshing to see. our military resources actually being used for something good. gives me some kind of hope for the leaders in office decision making process which is normally backward, corrupted and full of ulterior motives.. I hope this one at least is genuine act of care for our fellow human beings in need of our help.

Just my 2 cents

nice, there are 600k Filipinos in SF alone.
we are there, anyway. (military)

the place is trashed and they need help and prayers.
i am still getting some of the wind, from that monster.

That is because they're losing a small portion of their food stamps, as in maybe 5% cut at most. Whereas the thing in the Pacific is the equivalent of an F4 tornado the size of hurricane ripping through a country.

The situations do not compare, and while I am generally very nationalistic, I absolutely support the efforts to help people in such a huge disaster.

I'm old enough to remember the very first Band Aid concert....you know the one that was supposed to stop world hunger. 25 years later (a generation) we had another one. Still nothing has changed except population has increased, thus putting even more stress on the little resources these countries have. Why does the population increase?....because they are in constant receipt of foreign aid.
Foreign aid is no different in many respects to western countries benefit system/food stamps et all.

Before anyone says they can see what's coming and say I am in favour of some sort of Agenda 21/transhuman type thing....nothing could be further from the truth.

Some facts about the Philippines....Manila is THE most densely populated city in the world. In the top 50 most densely populated cities the Philippines has 11. It has the worlds worst record for child prostitution where parents will sell their children just to make sure they are fed. WTF! It has 6 hour traffic jams...constantly. The Philippines also has one of the worlds worst disparity between the have's and have not's. This is no 'get at the Filipinos' either, these are just some of the facts.

I see the whole disaster as some sort of act of god....in my case an act of mother earth. Until we stop providing direct funding, and actually start doing more practical/hands on things, nothing will ever ever change in these kind of countries. With a change in attitude to economic aid where it is used directly in teaching/educating people to be involved in its own infrastructure, in this case better weather resistant housing for example. Until the disparity between the have's and have not's is addressed, nothing will change.

Imagine yourself along with a group of people shipwrecked on a tropical island, you all work together to build shelter and find food. I know it's a bit far fetched, and eventually we come to the arguments of 'tribal' in fighting. The point I am trying to make is this, until the common man starts working as a group to help each other, take responsibility and look for solutions within the parameters they are presented with in their locale, nothing will change, everything will just repeat itself and in the meantime the problem just gets worse.

In E. F. Schumacher book Small is Beautiful....there are many lessons to be learned. Unfortunately, us the 'small' man, stand guilty of handing over our freedoms and allowing globalisation to the benefit of the 1% elite. Does anybody here really believe that the people directly affected are going to have a better standard of living from the aid pouring in for this disaster? The only people benefiting from this will be the fat cat's and their bank balances.

As Einstein once said "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
That applies to people who are in receipt of government benefits, people who are affected by acts of mother nature and most importantly to the people who do wield the purse strings and the ability to stop repeating the same mistakes....unfortunately the last group who do hold the power are the insane Einstein is alluding to, and we as mere citizens stand guilty of the same insanity of granting them that power over us.



My heart goes out to all Filipinos world wide who have been affected by this unprecedented weather event.

Rainbows
Jane

I have read all the posts and so will provide my input.

The United States is completely bankrupt and printing dollars indiscriminately in order to keep paying the bills. Basically, they have begun writing bad checks and it is these bad checks they are writing now.

The money the United States spends giving to foreign countries is too much because she is bankrupt and writing bad checks..

However, I would rather try to cover the bad check we wrote to help disaster relief victims than many of the other bad checks we are writing such as aid to a wealthy foreign nation. (I am certain everyone can surmise which ones) Not that we as a nation can afford to be writing bad checks. Its simply not a wise move when all the checks are bad.

As far as food stamps go, I know who those food stamps are going to and they aren't the needy in this country... they are going to the lazy. Lazy people getting a free ride while people who are truly in need get told no... Food stamp programs were supposed to be a help during a crisis not a way of life. People who are in real crisis in the United States are passed by while we support a large percentage of the population to keep them happy and out of everyone's hair. Well that is ridiculous... I don't need them out of my hair. I'd rather see them working and being productive right beside me.

There are many things we need to fix in this country and getting jobs back into America is the biggest one of them...Then is when those who are not currently paying taxes can complain about where their money is going... until then, its not your bad check to worry about having to cover...

Its mine.. someone who is physically disabled and CHOSE to retrain to do a job within their physical capacity and work instead of sitting around collecting the SSD I paid into.

reply to post by wantsome

You come on here and whine about loosing a few dollars in food stamps per month and think these people dont need a helping hand when they lost every thing? WoW that takes balls. Are you expecting sympathy? You will get none from me, you wantsome? well you get some just dont try to deprive the poor people who need it. We are a wealthy country this is what we do, help. Why not cry about all the forign aid we give to nations that dont need it?

I have no problem with the US giving aid. Sounds like right now, it's going to be manpower and medical to start.
What I do have a problem with, is that here in the US, we have some very generous people. Let's face it, when the donations start being collected, I'm sure it will be millions. Just from the people themselves. That's where the problems will start. Because how much of everything we "Donate" will actually make it?

That is part of the problem even for folks here. Our big named donation centers are corrupt. More people would be helped here if it wasn't.

So please be careful, if you donate to anyone collecting for the Philippines. Make sure your money is actually going to get there.

Americans and America(most charitable country) are traditionally charitable, especially when it comes to a disaster. I see no problem with that as it's well needed nor am I favored to say that as a hurricane survivor.
For example the town of Guiuan as reported, has yet to have assistance. Forty-thousand people, plus many more in other places who are homeless, no food, water or medicine, if in the areas already affected with disease(Avian influenza..., other), they are going to be more susceptible to the now squalor. In the case of pandemics this should not be ignored as well.

However though, to add, I do agree with getting to the bottom of the issue when it comes to aid to countries:
Band Aid illustrated that once the hype was over, people moved on from charity, and the hunger continued. It was a temporary solution. People think Monsanto and other companies or mass donation all the time will save areas from starvation, when more is needed. The sad part is, in any part of the world greed is why people starve, things won't "change" or "move on" until that is dealt with.

Because America has taken so much from the rest of the world, the least America can do is pitch in and help when there is a natural disaster.

hammanderr
reply to post by wantsome

 

OP, I completely agree with you, I wouldn't vote for the US to give them a penny. If individuals want to give their time and money that is great, I applaud them! But why is our government handing our money to foreigners? Makes no sense. If you want to give to the Phillipines, good on you, you're a good person. US government, you have a job to do, focus on that job instead of getting real generous with our cash.

The Philippines used to be a US colony. They were hit by a 170mph storm (twice as strong as most hurricanes) These people need all the help they can. It is also a positive thing for America to do and helps improve its public image.

Well done America.

wantsome
I see the US is sending tons of aid to the far east in wake of the typhoon disaster yet they cut food stamp aid here. I'm disabled through no fault of my own and struggling to survive in the richest country on earth. They cut food stamps by 47 million yet we're rushing to aid the Philippines. How about we fix our problems at home before we try solving the worlds problems.

Though I am sympathetic to your needs, I think your frustration may be misdirected. You know we give tons of money and aid to countries that HATE us, right? We basically bribe them not to attack us. THAT is what you should be cross about, not about helping innocents in a country that we have close ties with! Believe it or not, that meager amount you get in aid here in the U.S. could enable you to live quite comfortably, if not in leisure in other, less fortunate countries?
In our bloated country where we pay for crap we don't NEED like cable, internet, netflix, xboxlive, starbucks, alcohol, movies, etc etc etc, when they don't need anything but food, water, shelter, and some clothes. We have lost our perspective here in this country. People are still hurting, and I'm not saying you do any of the aforementioned things, seeing I know not your situation, but many who claim to be hard-up irresponsibly part with what little they have. I've been there. I' reminded of the story in the Bible of the poor widow who had next to nothing gave all she had, just because she wanted to. Now that is awesome.