some countries not giving enough to tsunami fund?
 

yes a bit of a poltical thread but this topic is preddy important. as much i like discussing what soft drink should be called lol sometimes there are more important things. the following nations or groups have given the following thus far;

Arab Govt: $30m
Arab public: $80m
Qatar: $25m
UAE: $20m
Kuwait: $10m
Israel: 100,000 for every affected country

This is just not good enough particulary as many of the countries are all of these country's (except israel) muslim brothers and sisters in indonesia particulary. its particulary bad when one considers the german government alone has donated close to 700 million dollars and australia via its government (not including donations from private citizens) has given 1 billion dollars. sure there political reasons for that (give money=hopefully stop terrorism=less wars to fight=less money to spend=money well spent.....yes i am a cynical soul lol).

Well since we're on this topic, I should tell you that while I do agree every country should do what it can to help, I also think that the problems of ones' own country should not be swept to the side for the benefit of aiding other countries. I sent a letter to the editor of our newspaper about this very topic. This is what it said:

I'd like to start by saying I'm not a cold-hearted person. I feel for and pray for all the victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami. I am truly sorry for the losses, the devastation, the hell those people went through and still continue to go through. But I must say that I cannot agree with our country sending $350 million in aid when our senior citizens do not have a proper prescription plan and must scrimp and save to make ends meet. My 66 year old mother cannot afford to retire from her job in the casino industry because Medicare alone does not fully cover the cost of her monthly prescriptions, any doctor visits and testing. She also cannot afford the additional premiums required to ensure that she continues to have 100% medical and hospitalization. I understand that this country wants to set the tone for other countries, but what about the big corporations? What about those countries who refused to help us in the war in Iraq? Now is the time for them to step up to the plate and do their part. I just don't think that the entire struggle for humanitarian aid to that region should fall entirely on the United States when we've got our own problems that continue to remain unaddressed because there's always another country whose needs are greater than our own. My husband is currently in Kuwait serving in the U.S. Navy Reserves and has been away from his family for almost 5 months. When will the attentions of our government be focused on the problems we have here in our own country? When will it be our turn?
Theresa Biebel

My Family Have Bin Giving As Much As We Can To Oxfam My Nieces And Nephew Who Are 7,6, And 4 Gave Half Their Money They Got For Christmas And I Gave Half Of Last Months Wages.

Just remember... countries give what they can. It depends how much people are willing to give. 25 million may not sound like a lot to you, but it sure as hell does to me. Besides, who's to say what the proper amount is?


H-D :pimp:

This is made up but gives you an idea of what im talking about

K so Qatar makes like 5 bil a year and gives 25 mil
- they give 0.005 of their money to that place

America makes 150 trillion a year and gives 350 million
- They give 0.00002% of their money to that place


See what I mean?

yeah but compare that to Australia which has given more than any other nation on earth to this fund or Germany or the EU. Teri you have a point but surely the wealthiest countries on earth have a moral obligation to help these countries. i think its a tragedy your mother cannot afford to retire and that is an indicement on the u.s. however not being able to afford to retire and not having anything to eat, or clean water or a roof over one's head is a completely different story.

X Saudi Arabia is a very big economy and the world's largest supplier of oil so I think they can afford to give more. This is probably the biggest natural disaster we will see in our lifetimes. The death toll is up around 200,000 which makes other recent events tiny in comparison.

if australia makes 1/30th of americas income and can donate over 2x more money, then we know somethings not right.

And i agree with aussie, having no food and starving to death is a different story then not having a good retirement fund

i think that the second that this turns into a who-gave-how-much thing, its ridiculous. people are helping. people are giving more than just money- sorely needed items, hands, hearts and prayers are being sent as well, its impossible to add everything up fairly, not to mention private donations and such. this isnt something that money is going to fix anyways.

your right its not a competition and money won't fix all problems. money is what is needed though for aid agencies to help these people with their physical problems. i just find it strange that indonesia's muslim brothers are not helping them more. israel's economy is fairly big and they can probably afford to give more.

well, i think competition is a good motivater in fund raising, just not finger pointing....

Away from who has given what there is another interesting issue here and that is who is getting the money. I don't know about fellow "coalition of the willing" members but Australia is refusing to give money to the U.N because the government believes too much wastage occurs. This is but another example of the U.N becoming irrevelant.

Sorry but i disagree on some levels, when a 100,00 people in an instant, and almost entire countries are devestated, i think that aid is need by all that can afford it.
The U.S. has definately stepped up, but more is needed. Also, who says that we can't fix those problems in our country and this one at the same time? What exactly is Congress for? Who says we can't start private donations and help this people; peoples whose entires lives are destroyed, no homes, no food, no water, family members gone. We are privilaged in the U.S. we have those BASIC needs (for the most part). Those people have NOTHING.

When over 100,000 peoples lives are taken, you don't ask others "why don't you give more money?" , "If have given enough money, who don't you step up?". You just do do it with out question.

Think of the parable of the good samaritan in the bible. Think how that applies.

I don't mean to sound condecesending or like i know it all, but in this instances i think we should just help and help somemore.

I don't feel at all as if you're being condescending, and I do understand the need to give. My point is, while we do have Congress and we do have the power to change the problems we've got in this country, no one is doing it. Congress just got back into session after a month off. A MONTH OFF. If I stopped working for a month I'd be in the welfare line looking for public assistance to get my kids milk and bread. If my mother took a month off work she would not have the medicine she needs to keep her healthy.

As I stated in my letter, I'm not an uncaring person, and I do feel that we all need to give and give more, but I also think that this government needs to not forget about the needs of its own people.

Countries should only give what they can afford to give without hurt themselves. Sending obsurd amounts of money does not solve much. People complain that the U.S. only offered a meager 35 million to start and refuse to count the monetary value that military ads. Look sending money does not solve anything. You can sell a kidney to donate money, but its not going to value much if there is nothing to make the money work. X or King - UAE, Saudia Arabia, and Kuwait are the richest countries in the world. I understand that the U.S. makes more money, but when you factor in the amount of money it consumes, whats left over isnt as grand.

Ok, i understand better, but it is politics, and when you have two sides to politics not all the issues are worked out. And sometimes help isn't possible. But yeah, the U.S. ain't perfect.