I have a really profound lack of faith in government, especially my own government. This rings especially true when it comes to how they spend their/our money. Right now we still have a lot of people that are suffering here in North Carolina because of a rather "vigorous" hurricane season and we are told there is no more money. FEMA has been really lackluster in their relief performance with many people being outright denied any sort of help. To be told that FEMA doesn't have any more money and then get news that the President is on TV talking about how proud he is to be sending a billion dollars for flood and drought relief in Africa, is a real kick in the nuts.
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While I live in an area that is essentially flood-proof provided the ocean doesn't rise 20 meters - at which point a lot of the world would be completely screwed - I do see hurricane damage first-hand when traveling around the state especially to populated coastal areas such as Wilmington. There are constantly houses there with tarps on their roofs because the roof was ripped off or a tree fell through it, and while I have not been there the western part of the state was absolutely ambushed by flash flooding that came with the "bit o' rain" that tends to accompany hurricanes. I was in an apartment in the 90's during hurricane Floyd that completely destroyed my apartment complex.
In these situations I feel as though some people got what they deserved such at the ultra-wealthy that build massive houses on the sand in an area that is well-known to get rough seas, high winds, and massive erosion during hurricane season. The people whose entire modest lives are destroyed mostly by water control creations like dams or levies, I feel very sorry for them. They should be compensated by a government that they are giving 20-50% of their paycheck to when disaster strikes.
The government saying in one sentence that "we don't have any money" and then saying "we are sending a billion dollars to Africa" is maddening.
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Now I don't want to make this about any particular political figure, but Biden is steering the ship right now and it was him that made this announcement about aid to Africa. I think one of the reasons why Trump got elected is because I don't think he would do something like this. I'm not saying that USA should just stand back and let people die around the world, but is it really greedy for me to suggest that a country should always prioritize looking after their own citizenry first? To me that just seems like common sense.
The government responded to questions by saying that they already sent a billion dollars to NC and also some other millions blah blah blah. It isn't really the number that has got people upset, it is that the job isn't finished and we are sending money overseas as if we had a surplus lying around.
"We again urge Congress to act quickly and pass a supplemental funding package to further assist communities on their road to recovery."
There they go again, passing the buck and in the meantime people are suffering and getting angry.
Call me a nationalist if you want to, but I think we shouldn't be sending a single dollar overseas to anyone until the needs of the people in this country are taken care of. That is what we are meant to be paying taxes for, isn't it?
Political spending has never really had any relation to real public need, and government has simply usurped for itself the role of foreign aid and charity. On top of that, they'll borrow billions for war and financing their corporate cronies, but let infrastructure crumble while people try to recover from disasters at home. It is a disgusting double standard.
I wonder how much of it is used inefficiently. As a recipient of FEMA aid when i was in college they were actually handing out TOO MUCH free stuff to people when they had the money, then they handed out nothing after that. It's just so governmenty to spend spend spend then realize oh crap, we are spending too much, then cut off the tap entirely even though the goal wasn't actually accomplished.
Government bureaucracy doesn't incentive efficiency at all. At the library, I had a set budget for programs to cover art supplies, refreshments and such. I was always frugal, and had a surplus at the end of the fiscal year, but used that to order ahead for planned programs the next year before the money went away. I think I was a rarity. Some programmers at other district libraries eyed my surplus greedily because they spent their funds as fast as they could months ago.
FEMA’s money woes and foreign aid are two completely separate issues. With Milton and then Helene, FEMA blew through half its money in just eight days. And then Congress dithered. It’s almost as nobody remembered that Biden asked Congress for more FEMA funds and the Speaker balked.
Separate money for foreign aid had already been allocated by Congress. But new emergency money for FEMA? Republicans in Congress dragged their feet simply to make Biden/Harris look bad.
Money for American needs versus money for foreign needs is a false dichotomy. When Congress wants to, we’re quite capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time.
I didn't want this to be a right vs. left discussion, I wanted it to be a disgusted with the government generally speaking discussion. I believe that no matter how or who or where funds are allocated from that the objective of this and any other country should be to look after their own people. I think it is time, for a country that is massively in debt, to stop giving money that we don't have to other countries. I would say to close almost all overseas military bases as well but that is a topic for another day.
But it’s inherently a right vs. left discussion, isn’t it? I think it’s pretty obvious that many on the right are against foreign aid full stop while many on the left are in favor of it, at least the non-military kind.
But is this a bad thing, to care for your own people first? I think this is the problem in many western countries at the moment...
I don't think it is a bad thing at all. In fact, I believe it is the entire reason for government existing. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the way that government has ever functioned in my lifetime.
I don't think it's nationalist at all. It's not the job of the government to steel money from its citizens to send to
citizensgovernments of other countries. If people want to donate their own money for that purpose, that's fine.oh that money that is going to Africa (or wherever) will almost certainly not end up in the hands of the people that really need it.
This has always been a problem and we know the money going to Africa will be heavily diluted by corruption with only a small percentage reaching it's destination. What is wrong with not sending any money overseas making sure your people come first and if there is none left over to send to other countries so what.
If I was broke and massively in credit-card debt I wouldn't be giving money to friends, or to people that I don't know. Government does it all the time though.