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The benefits of foreign aid
The benefits of foreign aid
The benefits of foreign aid
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Giving International Aid to Poor Countries
Poor countries have been receiving aid from the international community for over a century now. While such aid is supposed to be considered an act of kindness from the donor nations or international bodies, it has led to over dependence among the developing countries. They have adopted the habit of estimating and including international aid in their national budgets to reduce their balance of trade deficits. It is believed that foreign aid is necessary for poor nations in order to break the cycle of poverty that ties their citizens in low productivity zones and so their economy will not be weak. However, some critics view the extension of aid to poor countries as means of keeping the nations in economic slumber so that they can wake up from only by devising ways of furthering self-sustainability. Because of these two schools of thought concerning the topic, debate has arisen on which side is more rational and factual than the other. The non-sustainable nature of international aid, however, leaves the question of what may happen in the event that foreign aid is unavailable for the poor nations. After thorough consideration on the effects of the assistance to poor countries, it is sufficient to state that giving international aid to the poor nations is more disadvantageous than beneficial to the nations. This point is argued through an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of giving international aid to the poor countries with appropriate examples drawn from various regions of the world to prove the stance.
International aid furthers economic laziness among the poor nations, making them stay longer in poverty when they could work ways easily out o...
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...The New York Times, 2009. Web.
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Roger Biles, A New Deal for the American people, Northern Illinois university, press, 1991 p.226
Robert Paarlberg is a professor at Wellesley College, who also works as an associate at Harvard's Weatherhead Center. He wrote an article entitled, “Attention Whole Food Shoppers,” which address how the hunger crisis is still around, despite the thoughts of those who believe that it is not since the price of rice and grain has gone down. Paarlberg’s focuses on explaining the effectiveness of having governments finance fertilized plants and infrastructure projects for struggling countries. This claim was further emphasized by her utilization of punctuation, word choice as well as logos and ethos.
... aid across the world. As we have established that we do have an obligation to redistribute globally in a cosmopolitan perspective, distributing wealth however we may need to rethink what the best assistance is. Amaryta Sen conveys that before sending aid to the third world state, we would need to fully understand the limitation of freedom in the country. Redistributing wealth to global countries requires it to be evaluated by the economic shortage that they are suffering and to see whether it will be efficient in the long run. The more effective ways to contribute would be to international relief agencies or NGO’s that would pursue international development projects to help those in poverty or the alternative option by Tom Campbell’s idea of a ‘Global humanitarian levy’ which suggests a more appropriate taxation on all citizens to collectively aid those in need.
The first food aid program in the world was started during the Great War by soon to be President Herbert Hoover. Food production kicked in and the United States started to feed areas under Bolshevik control in Russia literally right outside the Tsar’s palace in the hopes that hunger – and therefore the main void and driver of need that communism fills could possibly be tackled. In a time absolutely different from our own where the United States gives foreign aid as a matter of routine, Hoover’s program was given over $700 million from France and Britain in order to feed Belgium and wartime
The United States is one of the leading suppliers of Foreign Aid in the world, and even though the US gives billions, European countries give aid money to the same countries, this causes many areas of the Middle East, Africa, and Asia to be almost fully dependent on foreign aid. This means that without aid from other countries, they would not be able to support themselves at all. Foreign aid is meant to help countries that are struggling with civil unrest, disease, or natural disasters, it is not meant to help keep the country out of debt, but that is where more and more of the US and The EU’s foreign aid budget is going. The question is, does all this money actually go where it is intended? It should be going towards the government and to help the people, but in many cases, the countries government does not have the resources to properly track the flow of money. The countries in most cases have poor infrastructure and corrupt or oppressive leaders, not always at a national level, but in the towns and cities. So this means there is almost no way to oversee the flow of foreign aid through the country, all we can see is that their situations aren't getting any better and the countries are still impoverished. If this is the case, where are the millions of dollars going? Countries like Afghanistan and Iraq receive the most money from American foreign aid and European aid, yet they are still under oppressive governmental rule and there is still an extreme difference between the rich and poor. Garrett Harding’s theory of “Lifeboat Ethics” exemplifies how not giving aid to others will allow the strongest of society to thrive, while teaching the impoverished to help themselves. He believes that giving aid to poor countries will only make ...
Levine, Susan. School Lunch Politics: The Surprising History of America’s Favorite Welfare Program. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2008. Print.
Gupta, A. "Stuffed & Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System." War Resisters League. N.p., Dec. 2009. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.
“Famine, Affluence, and Morality” Philosophy and Public Affairs, vol. 1, No. 1 -. 1, pp. 58-59. 229-243 [revised edition], 1972.
This is in part due to these countries no longer wishing to do business with them and they will create their own internal collective organization to help each other. This will lead to “Western industries will quickly be deprived of their overseas markets. Then the monopolies will realize that their true interests lie in giving aid to underdeveloped countries”. The author’s final message is for these Western powers to use their wealth to help people across the
When people read about foreign aid they immediately think of food and water. However foreign aid involves one nation giving resources to another nation that is struggling. Based on the country’s situation the aid can be financial, military, or simply food. The problem is there have been several of unsolved issues with these nations receiving their aid. Several of events has happened where our donations or the money the government gives have been misused or stolen.
McGovern, George. The Third Freedom: Ending Hunger in Our Time. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2001.
Whether their crises may involve starvation or refugees, these nations struggle for an economical or social stability. Despite vigorous attempts to try and raise their development status, the process is very slow and grueling, and in result, they hope for help from countries that can afford it (i.e. EMDCs: Economically More Developed Countries). Thus, the practice of giving “a helping hand for poor countries from rich countries” is known as International Aid. At a glance, International Aid seems like a simple procedure in which the “kind-hearted, generous rich country donates to the vagabond-like poor country”. In which the rich country is “the good guy”.
The distribution of food and the cost of products is one reason why many people are starving. Most food is being shipped away from the hungry, and the food they do have is costly. As premiums were paid to suppliers and shippers, the cost of food aid has risen compared to local purchases. “ The United States is the only donor nation that has avoided local and regional purchases.” (Mittal 24). If most countries avoided local purchases, th...
“…increasing international trade and financial flows since the Second World War have fostered sustained economic growth over the long term in the world’s high-income states. Some with idle incomes have prospered as well, but low-income economies generally have not made significant gains. The growing world economy has not produced balanced, healthy economic growth in the poorer states. Instead, the cycle of underdevelopment more aptly describes their plight. In the context of weak economies, the negative effects of international trade and foreign investments have been devastating. Issues of trade and currency values preoccupy the economic policies of states with low-income economies even more than those with high incomes because the downturns are far more debilitating.1”
Through individual, national, and global aid, we can take steps to decrease the overwhelming amount of poverty in less-developed countries and even in our own lands.