The left is constantly arguing for so-called “fair trade” to make up for previous unfair financial practices. “We need economic justice,” they scream.
I agree. It’s time for those greedy ingrates to pay their fair share.
I mean the third world of course. For too long the United States has carried the third world on its back, providing jobs, emergency aid and never-ending charity. Throw in a world’s worth of technology, countless vaccines, food and military aid and it’s no wonder that the world was even more messed up before 1776. Count the contributions of the rest of the developed world, the third worlders look even greedier.
How do these money grubbers repay us? They want more.
For more of this op-ed and to see the media role in this global grabbiness, go here.
It’s like an epic game of extortion. Third world nations call us "exploiters." They act like spoiled children demanding more goodies and threaten to hold their breath if the rest of the world doesn’t do as they demand. Lately, those demands have come in the form of increased aid, especially in climate change bills.
For more click here.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
The new modern world
July 22, 2009 - 09:53 ET by 10ksnookerWas built by the USA. Not on purpose, just as fact.
The formula is
July 22, 2009 - 10:37 ET by PeskyDaneThe formula is simple. Liberty = Prosperity.
Around the world, prosperity is held in check by either the smothering hug of socialism, or the brutal hammer or totalitarianism.
One of the over-arching problems with the United States is that we think everyone is good. Yes, I mean good like us. I remember the whole "feed the world/we are the world" craze back in the 80's when we thought sending a million tons of canned goods to Ethiopia would solve the problem. Few truly appreciated (and few still don't) that the aide we send is intercepted by the kleptocrats and doled out to their private armies and cronies.
There are also cultural mores which prevent prosperity by squashing ambition.
A couple of examples: if an Arab man manages to turn a few extra dollars and builds himself a new house, the "head" of the family is bound to show up and claim the house as his own. Here in America we would tell him to go pound sand, and refer him to the town clerk's office where the deed is kept. That would not matter in other cutures.
Next: let's say you are a teenager in a sub-Saharan country who shows promise in school. Through a combination of luck and your dad agitating the local officials, some U.N. money is set aside for you to attend one of the European Universities for polishing. You come back upon graduation, and you take a position as a provincial official with a near-western salary easily 10-15 times what your old friends were making back in the village digging for roots and picking berries. You buy a nice house. A week later, your entire family (siblings, cousins) is sleeping in your living room. So much for saving and investing. Now for the rest of your life, its all you can do through graft and corruption to bring in enough money to pay them off and keep them from burning you out (yes, these are the people who are supposed to love you and be happy for your success, btw).
If anyone has any ideas on how to fight this, by all means...
The US has donated the
July 22, 2009 - 10:45 ET by EdhenryThe US has donated the equivalent of 1 years of GDP since WW II to unproductive countries, with no collateral of land, pay backs or guarantees. The US is, by far, the leader in volunteers to underdeveloped countries (followed by S Korea, not france, germany, hmmm) No country in the history of mankind has done what the United States did in its position as the unopposed superpower (only we had nukes) at the end of WWII.
1. US could have confiscated all this land, including Russia, with no opposition and exploited the natural resources for our own puposes.
2. US could have merely annexed these countries (and they would now be better off)
3. US could have enslaved the peoples of these nations.
4. US could have obliterated any country it chose.
Our role in the world has been exemplary. Only the professional anti-americans, led by journalists and college professors, have advanced the lies that mislead the public about the facts of the US
Let's
July 22, 2009 - 10:59 ET by jessieHLet's not forget the U.N.. WE pay the lions share there too. WE try to help anyone who needs it. Yet they call US names, threaten US and still they want more. What would happen if WE closed our pocketbooks? WE might be better off.
And now our government has a new plan for our support,
July 22, 2009 - 11:15 ET by larry on LIit's called repatriation. one problem,it's targeted.