5 million children die of hunger a year-and yet we practically do nothing!
- Thread starter caprisun
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That's 5 million children we can't afford to sustain. Sucks but that's reality.
Giving them all just 1 meal could cost something ridiculous like 50 million. I'm pretty sure farms are too hard to sustain over there too, that's why they're starving in the first place.
Giving them all just 1 meal could cost something ridiculous like 50 million. I'm pretty sure farms are too hard to sustain over there too, that's why they're starving in the first place.
yes there is the whole, "help ourselves first before we help others" but no one can forget that a lot of third world countries have dictators, or corrupt governments, that will take the money for themselves rather then help their people with it. Even some charity organizations have to give almost all of their money to the governments there just to help the people.
Yep, this is the problem in a nutshell. The issue is that many African countries are being run by glorified warlords who play up the very poverty they cause their citizens for donations, then steal those donations to pad their pockets. And since "government reform by military invasion" is on the outs with the international community at the moment, the only way these unfortunates will ever free themselves from the warlords' yoke is to rise up themselves.Blatherscythe said:
Honestly, I think it is for the better, the world is overpopulated as it is and if we could save everyone we wouldn't have enough food and everyone would be worse off, should I be in their position my views would likely be different but I'm not and so these are my views.
Just like distraught plushie above me says I would give even less attention as it stands to fix their problems is more effort than it is worth.
Just like distraught plushie above me says I would give even less attention as it stands to fix their problems is more effort than it is worth.
I have to agree, it is so disheartening to read about an African village out there where the average death toll is one a day from starvation but to be honest the thing I find even more repulsive is that while the people in these villages are starving to death we in the western countries are dying of ridiculous amounts of overeating. I mean I've seen some gigantic burgers that are literally dripping with fat and come with a towering stack of chips and a quarter of a gallon of coke and then I see these pictures of starving people in Africa and I can't help but shudder a little in disgust.
So yeah, I always do my bit to give money to charity and try to pretend I'm not living in a gluttonous society.
So yeah, I always do my bit to give money to charity and try to pretend I'm not living in a gluttonous society.
My list of reasons NOT to give monies to Africa:
1) Do you really think we can afford it?
2) African governments are so corrupt that the money would go straight into the pockets of the leaders and never get to the people
3) The safety and security of our own people comes first
4) We have things that we need to fix HERE before we go crusading around the world saving everyone else single handedly knocking out corrupt officials with one hand and scoffing apple pie with the other
5) Why should WE help every other country in the world? Ever since we got on our feet we've been one of the first to respond with humanitarian aid barring a disaster (excluding WW 2). What have China and Russia done to help Haiti or Chile?
1) Do you really think we can afford it?
2) African governments are so corrupt that the money would go straight into the pockets of the leaders and never get to the people
3) The safety and security of our own people comes first
4) We have things that we need to fix HERE before we go crusading around the world saving everyone else single handedly knocking out corrupt officials with one hand and scoffing apple pie with the other
5) Why should WE help every other country in the world? Ever since we got on our feet we've been one of the first to respond with humanitarian aid barring a disaster (excluding WW 2). What have China and Russia done to help Haiti or Chile?
Thoughtful, but naive.caprisun said:
You need to understand that children who die of starvation of Africa aren't dying because there isn't enough food. They're dying because militias and militaries are preventing those people from accessing the food that does exist, due to civil wars, insurrections and so forth. These children are not starving, they are being starved, and this is happening deliberately.
If you give money or food to an aid organisation, that's great - three cheers for you, aid organisations need people like you to exist. That aid organisation now has to then work out how the fuck to get food to those people, when there are a bunch of guys with guns in between them and the starving kids who simply don't want them to be fed. Often, they fail. Do you know what happened to most of the food that flooded Ethiopia due to Live Aid? It sat and rotted in the harbour, under supervision of the Ethiopian army. Most of the little bits of food that did get out of the harbour was then stopped by military patrols. Instead of sending food, the west should have sent a military force - they would have ultimately saved many more lives in the long term.
Then there's the fact that aid organisations don't just have food expenses, they have all sorts of things that they have to spend money on to keep afloat. And that's just the honest ones. Then you get the aid organisations that aren't really aid organisations, or who misrepresent their roles in the situation. When there's a bunch of dudes wandering around the country with AK47s who don't like you very much, it must be tempting to say that you tried to give aid to poor people and failed when all you did was land at an airport, meet a guy with a gun and say to him "okay, we can say we've been here, we'll wait in the airport terminal, play with our laptops and catch a flight back in a few days". Some aid organisations are actually scam operations not unlike the familiar Nigerian 419 scams.
As for sending money directly to the governments - er, no. Doesn't work. Often people being starved are ethnic minorities being starved by the government, such as it was in the case of Ethiopia.
Also, this thread belongs in Political Discussion.
You know, I'd imagine that if all the world countries stopped sending aid to places like africa, the population would very quickly go back to what the land could actually support.
Maybe we should do that instead of throwing money away.
Maybe we should do that instead of throwing money away.
Don't complain about other people. Just do what you think is right yourself, and don't degrade everyone else. It makes you look like a judgmental teen who wants attention.
I think that for a lot of people, they either do not see that they can make a difference, or they honestly cannot because they have worries of their own.
In some cases, people can help, but they do not see it as their problem. It is not to be self-absorbed, but when it comes to these things, people tend to focus more on things that affect them immediately. This is something that is going on in a whole other continent, and it is not really advertised here as an urgent concern.
For most people, it seems that they really do not see their call to do something until it affects them personally in some way. Some people just naturally feel the need to help, but for most they just need a push.
I think in order for something to get started, you just need to get out there, and find some people to back you. Often, relief efforts do start at the ideas of one person. Then we need to make sure that it is followed through, because most efforts fall off the face of the earth whether by lack of interest, communication, or a break down of support.
I think that it is a good idea to have that concern, but if we are to make any difference, we need things to happen. We need new ideas to surface, and we need new people to get involved. We cannot relief of things to always work out. We need to get our hands dirty and get involved. It is one thing to get the word out there, but words do not fill stomachs. We need action.
In some cases, people can help, but they do not see it as their problem. It is not to be self-absorbed, but when it comes to these things, people tend to focus more on things that affect them immediately. This is something that is going on in a whole other continent, and it is not really advertised here as an urgent concern.
For most people, it seems that they really do not see their call to do something until it affects them personally in some way. Some people just naturally feel the need to help, but for most they just need a push.
I think in order for something to get started, you just need to get out there, and find some people to back you. Often, relief efforts do start at the ideas of one person. Then we need to make sure that it is followed through, because most efforts fall off the face of the earth whether by lack of interest, communication, or a break down of support.
I think that it is a good idea to have that concern, but if we are to make any difference, we need things to happen. We need new ideas to surface, and we need new people to get involved. We cannot relief of things to always work out. We need to get our hands dirty and get involved. It is one thing to get the word out there, but words do not fill stomachs. We need action.
That's a big fat lie. We technically have room and food for over 11 billion people on this planet (in other words, almost DOUBLE the current world population), the only reason why the food wouldn't be enough is because of the over-consumption of food in other countries (and I'm mostly talking about the US, where obesity is the new slim.) Not only do we eat more than we need, but we throw away millions of tons of food every year that could've saved other people's lives.Booze Zombie said:
It's disturbing to say that there isn't enough food for everyone.
Now THIS is agreeable. It's very, very sad, but it's the grim truth. I say instead of throwing money that disappear into thin air we should just 1) help solve their problems with farming and such and 2) let them be. If we rescue them from suffering now they'll just suffer even more later on.Portal Maniac said:
The starvation in Africa and parts of South America are caused fully by corruption in local governments. The people there don't know how to run a sustainable economy. Billions of dollars in aid from US homes DOES go to Africa, my family gives some of it, and its a remarkably naive thing to suggest that we're "doing nothing".
honestly what you've written here is classic thought-devoid liberal argument. Why would ANY country be expected to support corrupt foreign governments at their own expense. In fact there's an argument that the morally reprehensible behavior would be to support another country at the expense of the safety of your own citizens.
The fact is that Americans are quite generous with Africa, but the majority of the money and food sent there never finds its way to the people who need it, and instead bolsters the power and bank accounts of corrupt officials.
The real solution to their problems, is not making yourself feel good by giving some bit of money and guilting others into following by showing starving kids on TV, the solution is to get involved to create a stable social infrastructure and allow liberty and capitalism to work their magic. peaceful commerce is what ends poverty, not feel-good, meaningless, liberal sentiments.
honestly what you've written here is classic thought-devoid liberal argument. Why would ANY country be expected to support corrupt foreign governments at their own expense. In fact there's an argument that the morally reprehensible behavior would be to support another country at the expense of the safety of your own citizens.
The fact is that Americans are quite generous with Africa, but the majority of the money and food sent there never finds its way to the people who need it, and instead bolsters the power and bank accounts of corrupt officials.
The real solution to their problems, is not making yourself feel good by giving some bit of money and guilting others into following by showing starving kids on TV, the solution is to get involved to create a stable social infrastructure and allow liberty and capitalism to work their magic. peaceful commerce is what ends poverty, not feel-good, meaningless, liberal sentiments.
The World is cruel, and made for the fittest, it´s not our fault africa is poor and not meant for western colonization, and can´t be made into farmland to grow shit on.
It is however our fault that we interfered with africans in the first place, teaching them over generations the western society, whereupon they forgot how to hunt, how to find water, and how to generally survive in their own country.
We can´t just drop a moneybomb there and say "here, help yourselfs" because some Warlord is gonna use the money and buy some shiney new AKs and Tanks for his Army.
It is however our fault that we interfered with africans in the first place, teaching them over generations the western society, whereupon they forgot how to hunt, how to find water, and how to generally survive in their own country.
We can´t just drop a moneybomb there and say "here, help yourselfs" because some Warlord is gonna use the money and buy some shiney new AKs and Tanks for his Army.
...Aerodynamic said:
That's...weird. How the hell do people know this stuff!?!?
It is fun to watch the numbers flop back and forth in world population though. Some other numbers are just...
