5 million children die of hunger a year-and yet we practically do nothing!

[Jeronus]

God of War III or the survival of a child in some shithole country?

GAMESTOP, HERE I COME!

 

[Loop Stricken]

2) African governments are so corrupt that the money would go straight into the pockets of the leaders and never get to the people

Pretty much this. The only money I'd give would be for the bullets to take out the rotten apples in government.

 

[Loop Stricken]

You may want to check this out though.
http://www.worldometers.info/

...

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...

I am of the opinion that it's just a script based off've estimates.

 

[Normalgamer]

Sorry, but until we finally get out of the debt that people in power fucked us up with, we need to stop giving money to other nations and start helping ourselves.

 

[FoolKiller]

If you can't keep your kids alive, don't have them. I know it's harsh but everyone has their own problems and their own lives to take care of. The world is not and will never be fair. Nor will communism work on that scale.

 

[TheFacelessOne]

You may want to check this out though.
http://www.worldometers.info/

...

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...

I am of the opinion that it's just a script based off've estimates.

Those are some precise estimates.

 

[Naeo]

I do much admire your idealism and intent, but there are a handful of reasons we don't do much, most of which have been stated before:

First, we have trouble here at home. Our education system in the US is floundering, especially in my home town of Houston with the abortion that is Dr. Grier becoming superintendent, we have hundreds of thousands of people homeless on the streets, many of them starving and with mental/sociological conditions that they cannot get treatment for because our healthcare system prevents it or because the hospitals are so overcrowded or because some states/cities limit the number of homeless they will help. Oh and don't forget the thing called "the recession" and "massive god damned national debt". We can't ignore our problems at home for the cause of helping another country with its. That is just plain stupid; ignore one group of people who need help and are the people who you are supposed to lead, govern, etc. and instead give help to a group of people you have no obligation to.

Second point is just that: you assume we have some moral or legal obligation. It would be nice if we did have some obligation to help those who need it- like the people here at home, the people in Chile and Haiti, the people in Africa, the people in all parts of the world- because then we might act like we give a collective damn and actually do something.

Thirdly, as Eukaryote said on page 1, money =/= help. It's the same parable as "give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he'll never go hungry again". Sure, we can give the countries money to feed their people, and let's assume for a second that they'll use that money to feed their people. That's great and all, but when that money's used up providing a temporary but admittedly much, much needed relief, they need more money again. Or, they could stimulate their economy, put more money towards subsidizing farming to generate food and better the economies on the whole so they can have money to buy food. Okay, also great and wonderful, but that takes time and the people will die in the meantime of hunger and malnourishment anyways. Now, let's look at the real world. A lot of the countries with large portions of the population that are starving or malnourished don't have governments that really give a damn about it, i.e. are dictatorships/totalitarian. So, you give the countries money for food and one of two things happen: the governments take the money and use it for themselves, or the money gets used for feeding the people and the government suddenly doesn't have to worry about that and has a healthier population to conscript into the army. Yeah, it's a tricky situation.

Fourth, you really are just wrong. Lots of people do donate to charities that go to solve problems like global hunger, and the fact that those charities exist is something that you can't ignore in this matter. Oh, and 0.01% of our GDP is 0.01% of about $13 trillion, so, about $1.3 billion. And considering that, you know, other countries also contribute substantial amounts of money to the same cause, there is a fair influx of cash towards this.

 

[Anticitizen_Two]

Its estimated that this year around 5 million children, mostly in areas like africa, will die of hunger. and it just shocks me that we in the west can just sit around as if nothing is happening. i mean i no we give some aid or whatever, but its pathetic, like the US doesnt even give .01% of its gdp, yet it can fund military projects etc. like i dont really have much of a point, but like do you not think its a pretty sad enditment on us all that we throw away money like we do in the west while so many people die needlessly?

This happens because America is populated by conservative people who care only for themselves. God only knows how those people sleep at night.

 

[Aerodynamic]

You may want to check this out though.
http://www.worldometers.info/

...

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...

Some are depressing, I know.

 

[elricik]

dirty hippies should leave now

I second this notion.

 

[Motiv_]

As others have said, we have problems enough as is.

Also, I hate to break it to you, but there really is no such thing as "Disposable Income" anymore.

According to http://www.usdebtclock.org/, the United States is over 1 billion dollars in debt. So yeah, it sucks that people are gonna starve to death, but you're asking homeless people for a lease, as the saying goes.

I guarantee you every single American on this forum just got their hope built up a little bit before realizing you made a mistake in counting zeros. The USA is over 10e12 USD worth of debt, or in other words, 10 trillion.

Ah fuck. Sorry, I was a little buzzed at the time. Edited.

 

[Scorch_Phoenix]

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.

Well that's not completely true. We (by we, I mean Europeans) invaded their lands and stole all their (or most of at least) gold, diamonds, coal, iron etc. So yeah it is our fault that they are poor. Can't say that I care though.

 

[Zedzero]

It's a horrible thought but hear it out. If we did save these 5 million the world would over populate even faster then it already is, we are nearly at breaking point, scientist speculate we could carry about 12 billion people at most and we will reach that by around 2050 or so. It's horrible but it must happend for the sake of humanity.

 

[maninahat]

Its estimated that this year around 5 million children, mostly in areas like africa, will die of hunger. and it just shocks me that we in the west can just sit around as if nothing is happening. i mean i no we give some aid or whatever, but its pathetic, like the US doesnt even give .01% of its gdp, yet it can fund military projects etc. like i dont really have much of a point, but like do you not think its a pretty sad enditment on us all that we throw away money like we do in the west while so many people die needlessly?

Part of the problem is the huge difficulty in finding a solution to starvation in the first place. Governments to provide a huge amount of aid relief to famine plagued countries, but that will never solve the problem on its own. The country itself needs to undergo significant change if it hopes to overcome famine in the long term. Just how much control should foreign powers have over another country's development? Too much intervention, and that country ends up becoming a subordinate state.

 

[sneakypenguin]

snip
This happens because America is populated by conservative people who care only for themselves. God only knows how those people sleep at night.

Pretty good in my climate controlled room after a wonderful midnight snack usually.

Its not that we don't care, its that we see the problem (a whole social,governmental, economic problem) and say huh, money isn't going to do jack. You have to remove the governments in power, and completely change a culture in order to begin to fix the problem. Something that isn't happening, help works when you begin to help yourself, but until the pseudo christians and muslims and warlords stop their power plays, until they finally learn to use condoms and maybe slow down aids, giving money will do little. I don't mind a hand up its just giving money to africa is a hand out with massive administrative cost.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

America is the world's police force, not to mention the world's hospital and world's kitchen. Didn't you get the memo?

Besides, unless you personally HAVE contributed to the situation in a manner other than complaining about it, you've got no moral high ground here.

 

[The Austin]

I don't think that it is the west's job to babysit other country's.

 

[maninahat]

Its estimated that this year around 5 million children, mostly in areas like africa, will die of hunger. and it just shocks me that we in the west can just sit around as if nothing is happening. i mean i no we give some aid or whatever, but its pathetic, like the US doesnt even give .01% of its gdp, yet it can fund military projects etc. like i dont really have much of a point, but like do you not think its a pretty sad enditment on us all that we throw away money like we do in the west while so many people die needlessly?

This happens because America is populated by conservative people who care only for themselves. God only knows how those people sleep at night.

I contest that. Conservative Christian Americans on average give more to charity than any other demographic on Earth. That still goes, even if you discount donations made to Christian based foundations. Say what you like about them, but they are no more selfish than anyone else.

It is worth pointing out that more liberal, non-religious people give only a fraction to charity by comparrison. I don't mean to use this to suggest that we should all become religious, I am merely stating these facts to refute your putdown regarding conservatives.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

We live in a capitalist world, and the people behave accordingly. This is one of the many reasons I am a socialist.

 

[Anticitizen_Two]

Its estimated that this year around 5 million children, mostly in areas like africa, will die of hunger. and it just shocks me that we in the west can just sit around as if nothing is happening. i mean i no we give some aid or whatever, but its pathetic, like the US doesnt even give .01% of its gdp, yet it can fund military projects etc. like i dont really have much of a point, but like do you not think its a pretty sad enditment on us all that we throw away money like we do in the west while so many people die needlessly?

This happens because America is populated by conservative people who care only for themselves. God only knows how those people sleep at night.

I contest that. Conservative Christian Americans on average give more to charity than any other demographic on Earth. That still goes, even if you discount donations made to Christian based foundations. Say what you like about them, but they are no more selfish than anyone else.

It is worth pointing out that more liberal, non-religious people give only a fraction to charity by comparrison. I don't mean to use this to suggest that we should all become religious, I am merely stating these facts to refute your putdown regarding conservatives.

Well, that has more to do with religion than with politics. Religious does not mean conservative, I am very liberal and I am still religious.