Everything After - A 9.11 Youth Circle - Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches and Other Aid

Locke, the US is not really into the environment, compared to other western countries the us is like actively destroying the earth. What are we doing to sew that hole in the ozone? Manufacturing more cars, cutting down more trees? Starving people? Why this wouldn't be a proper capitalist country without poverty now would it? Research all this global economy business. It's not exactly designed to operate on an equal playing field. Education? Hmmm? Pencils or bullets? We can't learn if we're not safe right? Bullets it is! Teen pregnancy would not be such a big issue if contraception was fully supported by the Govt. if sex Ed class didn't encourage abstinence as the only policy and leave kids ignorant. Aids I dunno. Terrorism...the root of that problem is not crazy religious extremist zealot type people in turbans trying to destroy our "way of life." It's more in how the US deals with the other nations and peoples of this world. The US doesn't really have to do it alone. Most people in the world are not as comfortable as the US and would probably looove to do something about all the above issues. If the Us started doing something about these problems then it would cease to be the super power that it is. Look at this "War on Terror" (Meditate on that for a minute will you) OK? Umm how is the US going about wiping out terror? By bombing people into submission? By overwhelming with force? By terrorizing?

Gray,

The US isn't the only one putting a hole in the o-zone, starving people, poorly educated people, teen pregnancy, AIDS, and terrorism.

Every country is contributing to the problem. Nothing can be done unless all of us work together. You are placing way to much blame on the US. For example, look at Africa. The number of people with AIDS there is huge in comparison to the US. Another example, look at Afghanistan or Iraq, 100's of thousands even millions of starving people.

I do not at all understand where you get off saying, "If the Us started doing something about these problems then it would cease to be the super power that it is." Please further explain that comment to me.

As for your comments on the "war on terrorism," I agree with you 100%. So far this "war" hasn't really taken down many terrorists. We still have many many other terror groups lying around besides al-qaeda that the US hasn't even touched. Bush is using this "war on terror" as a guise to attack Iraq as far as I can tell.

...punch and pie

Locke :) I do think that the US is responsible for a lot. Not everything but a lot. I mean can you honestly deny that what the US wants is to stay all powerful? What are other countries doing to negate progress? Why is Aids in Africa such a big issue (actually it's not, who really cares? When was the last time you saw that on the cover of anything?) Why is it that people are dying at a ridiculous rate? I want to know. As for pollution, the US is the main polluter. Name a country that's a bigger polluter, (look up Kyoto Protocol and US in any search engine) And what about Afghanistan and Iraq? WHY are people starving there? Please explain. If the US was to start using all it's power to promote peace and harmony and all that, then it wouldn't be what it is. It's a bully. If a bully starts helping the kid that it's just beat the crap out of then it's not really a bully anymore. It's more of a protector and then if it continues it might become an equal. As for terrorism. I want to know what you think that's about. Not how the US is dealing with it but, what do you think is behind the terrorists? What do they want? If the terrorists were to "win" ::laughs:: What would that look like? If the "terrorists" were to have their way what would the world look like?

See that is what i hate. Gray i totally agree with you on every aspect that you touched. See when Locke responded, that is so typical, you defer the blame to other countries. So you defer the blame so it doesn't make the US look so bad.Whenever i argue with adults thats the first thing they do is say, "well dont u know that this happens in other countries." so what! is that what we are discussing no we aren't. the point is that if you live in a country you are going to wanna strive to make it in the best condition possible. Right now I think its in the worst, even though many ignorant captilist driven americans will disagree. That is the first goal, to have a direct conversation about the topic, instead of jumping to a differn't track.

Gray,

Dude, I dunno where to start in response to your last post but I'll give it a shot.

You say the US wants to be a bully, oppresses people, etc... Well, I will admit that our foreign policy is not the best, but we do offer aid. To answer your question, "What are other countries doing to negate progress?" I will give you an example. Egypt recieves aid from the U.S. to the tune of $2 billion. What does the Egyptian government do with that $$$... Well, instead of feeding the poor and clothing the naked they put a big chunk of the funds into an army.

The U.S. cannot offer aid to other countries forever. In your posts that's what you seem to lean towards. Other countries and their governments need to become self reliant. Until that happens we will just keep pumping money out in aid. Is that really a workable solution for you?

I will agree that the US is the largest polluter in the world. However, if we cut down on pollution it would help so much if other countries don't cut down. We are all on this planet together and need to work together.

As for your question "What do the terrorists want?" that has many many answers. There are several terrorist groups out there. Some want the U.S. brought down, others want Isreal brought down, others want Islam to be the only religion in the phillipines, the list goes on and on.

I think that if the terrorists "won" the world governments would fall apart and lead to chaos... Look at how well Afhganistan waz run under the Taliban and Al-Qaeda tag team.

Oh, and AIDS in Africa might not be a big deal to you or others. (Personally, I think it's sad that the only things you care about are those that are on the front page.) But, to people in Africa and surrounding nations, it's a problem. Just because you don't give a rats ass, doesn't mean the problem is not there.

Pintozo,

All I can see from all of your posts is a big old hatred for America. I'd like to see you try to last for 5 minutes outside of its borders. I will admit that America is nowhere near perfect... I am not trying to defer the blame. I am merely trying to point out that if America betters its policies it will only put a small dent in the worlds problems. We all need to work together on this planet, otherwise change is futile.

...punch and pie
(sorry, this post waz longer than I intended...)

Locke...:::sigh::: I feel so misunderstood. I feel you are reading more into my posts than is there and that my sarcasm is taken seriously (very dangerous). Like the Aids in Africa point. I wasn't saying that I didn't care, I was saying that it doesn't look like anyone else cares. You're making so many assumptions about who I am and what my stance is. I didn't say the US wants to be a bully I said the US is a bully. Other countries have cut down on the amount they pollute. And you know that the US helped the Taliban get into power right? The US supports all kinds of dictatorships and governments that do nothing for the people they are supposed to be governing.
This opinion you have about America being this like altruistic entity that is going to have to one day cut down on all this Gosh darn aid and love it's pouring out into the world and let the world learn to be self sufficient...well I think we're coming from a different place on that. My history notes and perspectives are obviously very different from yours. I am not leaning towards the US giving "Aid." I think giving "Aid" is really not helping at all in the long run. It's just putting a band aid on a huge wound. I'm coming from a totally different place, the way I see it the US shouldn't have any more "Aid" to give than anyone else, cuz, that's how equality works. It shouldn't be up to one country to do anything. Look I've made suggestions for searches and websites to visit. Please go back to the "Favorite News Sources" topic and check out the links I posted....please. Also I don't know how much you know about colonialism and imperialism and their effects (or existence) in the present. Please go read something about those topics. I think we will at least be in the same book then.

I also totally disagree with your comment to Pintozo about how the US would only put a dent (are you kidding me?) into the worlds problems if it betters it's policies.

The US is one of the most powerful... no, the most powerful country on Earth. And the stuff that it does to help the rest of the world compared to what it has done (including American companies, etc.) is pretty pathetic. America has rushed on this crusade to rid the world of terrorism (or maybe evil totally, you never know) but terrorism is probably the hardest thing to fight. 24,000 people in the world die of hunger each day- what does the government do to fight that? It would be a million time easier to fight other things.... and what is the US doing? Honestly, the United State government and many of the United States people could care less about fellow human beings, if they aren't as fortunate as themselves.

Gray,

Please the visit the site below for some very good points about foreign aid:

U.S. Foreign Aid Is Often a Hindrance to Economic Development (After reading your second post, I think we have had the same opinion about foreign aid all along.)

Yeah, yeah... I know the history of how the U.S. helped put the Taliban in power, among other dictatorships, but would you have any better answers? Afghanistan has always been unstable, I already have my doubts about their current new government.

...punch and pie

Read the article. The person who wrote that article is not really taking into account how a lot of nations got into the mess they're in in the first place. Their point of view is very limited it's not very historical or global. Their point is taken, but don't forget that the US probably knows that "aid" is not really helpful, maybe they know it's not really "aid" at all, but a form of bribery or a way of winning political favor. Like those Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches in Afghanistan...I heard they also came with pamphlets.

Also I asked you a lot of questions and you haven't answered many of them. I really would like my answers.

this is my frist response on this post. i really dont see how aid doesn't help? in terms of the US giving it, that is really no existent. Check this, the US makes 37% of the worlds income, meanwhile they give less than one percent of foriegn aid each year. Here is something that falls along the same lines. The UN requires each country to give .74% of their annual income to 3rd world countries. Lets look at China, Denmark and the US. China give sthe minimum of .74 percent. Denmark, a country that is far less wealthy than the US, as of a couple of months ago gives 1.1 percent, far more than what they are requiered. Now lets look at the US. you would think since we make 37 percent(that is a lot of money!!) of the WORLDS income that we could afford to give at least the minimum, and far beyond that. we are talking about human lives here. well anyway, THE US GIVES .009%. FAR LESS THAN THE MINIMUM. actually it was quoted a while back that the US gov felt it was absurd to give this amount to foriegn aid. talk about morals right?