Epilogue: What is Peace?
This article reminded me of a saying: everything is relative. This writer went to Iraq with a theme for his story in mind, one that consisted of peace in a place that hadn't it in quite some time. Yet he found that the place had a different kind of "peace", different from what he had originally anticipated. Herein lies my point that everything is relative. Peace here meant something different, yet it is just as great as "peace" somewhere else, which might mean there isn't as much as a fist fight that goes on. So we should keep this in mind when thinking about philanthropy, volunteer-ism, and helping out in places of need. It's all a matter of progress.
I can remember after the Haiti earthquake, someone said to me "why is everyone (US citizens) donating so much money to Haiti when theres plenty of people here who need help?" They weren't necessarily right or wrong. One view is that they have a point. There are lots of people here in need, that don't get all the publicity of disaster victims. People who want to help only when somethings all over the news should maybe look around and see how they can help the people around them and in their own country. One shouldn't feel ashamed to want to help their neighbor instead of a hungry person on another continent, even though that person might be in a more dire situation. Another view is that people's problems here aren't really as bad as elsewhere. A different person told me "America is the only place where poor people are fat." Yeah, there might be people in need here, but theres not a lot of people on the brink of dying from hunger or at risk of being victims of genocide. So maybe we should be helping the people who really need help. Again, personally, I don't think either point is necessarily right or wrong.
I got a little of topic here, but the articles point about relative peace made me think about this. So I'm really curious to know what people's opinion of this is. So PLEASE RESPOND to this in your comments!
Why Does Foreign Aid Fail?
The details of this Q&A are really sad. On one hand, the modern world makes it much easier to aid places far far away. But with that comes all these problems that are brought up in this article. What's really sad is that when this news reaches people, it may further discourage people from donating or advocating for more governmental foreign aid. I'm not surprised to hear someone describe the "leaking" of foreign aid in this sort of way. Hopefully, a trend we see in the coming years is global transparency. We're in the middle of the information age, and it seems very possible that we can create systems that confront this sort of problem. Being able to track money doesn't seem like too lofty of a goal.
Aid vs. Trade
Ngozi makes good points in her TED presentation (which is an awesome website btw, I've seen lots of good stuff on there). She makes some of the same points that the guy in the last article made about there being lots of misuse in foreign aid. One point that she makes thats a little different though is that the misuse of the aid comes from confusion and miscommunication between the people involved, from the top to the bottom. It seems that there should be more coordination between these people, especially when theres big amounts of money being thrown around. I've heard for a long time that these are the reasons that have stalled Africa's growth and evolution. It's unfortunate, but again, hopefully a transparent future will address these issues.
Millennium Development Goals
I didn't know these existed, but I think they must be helpful in addressing some of the issues Ngozi brought up pertaining to an absence of clear goals and priorities. A few of them seem vague and broad, but I suppose the 60 indicators get more specific. I'm really anxious to see the current status of these relative to the goals that were set 11 years ago. It's interesting that "ensure environmental sustainability" is so far down the list, when it seems to me that environmental issues are the root cause of a lot of Africa's other issues. But I guess its hard to put that ahead of the others, such as hunger and education. All in all, I agree with the list and the order.
Greg-
ReplyDeleteI really like that you mentioned the topic of giving overseas vs giving in the US. My mom and I got in a debate over this same thing this summer, she believes that we should give to our community before we give overseas but I'm in favor of both.
I believe that we are a very very fortunate country, in terms of wealth and opportunities and we should share that with the rest of the world. It has always been my personal opinion that if someone is struggling and you are fortunate enough to help them you should, regardless of their geographical location.
Countries such as Haiti that have virtually no monetary means to repair themselves after natural disaster obviously need help. $1,000,000 for programs in the United States is a ton of money, but it is even more for third world countries.
Our own communities clearly need assistance as well and I believe that it is our responsibility to try to better the areas in which we live and help our neighbors that need help.
I know my answer was completely indecisive as to who should receive money first, but I'm torn.. Great conversation topic!
Greg-
ReplyDeleteI think it's a tough call for anyone to form an opinion on that only because people don't want to say that the family living on the streets in coldest cities in the U.S need more or less support than the family living in a disaster stricken ruin. Clearly both situations of the needy in our own country and the people struggling to survive in third world countries need the help and support, it's just a matter of deciding who needs the support first and faster. It's a very interesting debate and tough to make a call!
Greg,
ReplyDeleteI think that the issue you raise of the conflict between assisting the needy locally or internationally is something that many people struggle with. I will say that issues such as the earthquake in Haiti or images of starving children in Africa get a lot more press then local children struggling to receive accurate nutrition. I also think that when it comes to international issues we see a lot of people giving once or twice, and when I look locally I see a lot more people giving time or money over a long period of time. I think that publicity has a fair amount to do with aide though, so maybe the issue is raising public awareness of whats going on in America.