to make a bitchy response to this fb status

[SwanseaSlapper]

"We have Troops fighting a war without proper equipment..... Yet we donate millions to other countries before helping our own first. 99% of people on facebook won't have the guts to copy and repost this. WILL YOU, I thought charity began at home!!!"

It just offends me.

Karmabeliever - did you choose that name to be ironic?

There is always going to be someone worse off than someone else. That arguement can go on forever. I don't think we can fix everything.Those societies are broken because of things that are beyond our control. Yes, life is very hard in other countries, but do I think we should cut the things we need here and give the money to other countries, then no. If we all live in luxury and security (and I have my doubts, but I guess it's all relative), then that is because we have created a welfare state/healthcare system/education system that we pay for via tax and have security because of the armed forces that some of you don't give a shit about. If we cut these things too much, then only the wealthy will have them and we will be like America (with people living in abject poverty, unable to afford to go the doctor/buy food).
This could go on forever and I find myself repeating the same points. I am not going to change what I think and neither will the people who disagree with me. The only solution I think is for the govt to ask us and for all to agree to live with the result.

There is an implication that the need of the armed forces is not as significant as the needs of people in Pakistan. I would argue that people sent to a war zone are owed the correct equipment by the people who sent them there. If the money to pay for both the army and foreign aid came from outside Britain then I would agree that certain foreign aid is more of a priority. But it doesn't. The money comes from the taxpayer so to me the priority has to be the things that the taxpayer is directly responsible for. The OP has said she 'fucking hates all this soldier worship', and cupcakes wanted to distance herself from the troops. These are opinions that people are entitled to hold ,but do give the impression of not giving a shit about the troops. Apologies if I have misconstrued that.

But you're wrong, it's not a case of either or, karmabeliever.

It's not a Hobson's choice of 'save lives in Pakistan' or 'save lives of our armed forces'.

You've clearly been Dailymailised, and I'll leave this thread now, enlightening as it has been.

If you asked people why they are working, I think they would reply that it is so they can have a better quality of life for themselves and their DC. I doubt many people would say they are working and paying tax to support other parts of the world if this was to be at the expense of their own families access to healthcare/education etc.

I'm not saying that people shouldn't give help, only that it shouldn't be something a govt decides at the expense of things here.

I agree it is not a direct choice between army and foreign aid. It could be a direct choice between job cuts/healthcare cuts and foreign aid.(Unless the govt agrees to cut its own wasted spending, which I can't see happening).

I too am now leaving this thread. Have to go out and have said my piece (repeatedly). Will have to agree to disagree.

Karma you strike me as incredibly naive.
What exactly do you think is being sacrificed in this country in order to fund aid?

The cuts are currently going on because as a country WE didn't manage OURSELVES properly. We overspent, we overborrowed, we grew beyond our means. Why the results of our own greed should penalise another nation in such an aid crisis is beyond me.

I work, i pay a shitload in tax. I'm as content knowing some of it goes towards international aid as I am knowing it goes on education. To be honest if our education system is churning out attitudes as narrow minded as yours, well i wonder if i am getting value for my money at all.

Karma"The troops didn't get any say when they were sent to Afghanistan/Iraq. They chose to join the army and the reason the army exists is to defend Britain and its interests. It is the govt that decides which conflicts it sends our troops to. The troops sent to these places should have the proper equipment to defend themselves from attack."

Excellent point. It's not their fault they got deployed. After all they had no choice but to put their brains and morals in an airtight box. That's what they're getting PAID for bless em, solid gold the lot of em

Not uneducated and easily swayed like the Taliban. Totally different.

God save da Queen

Altinkum...let's be clear - compassion is not measured by the ease with which one seeks to spend other people's money on one's own preferred causes.

Rather, it is defined by the way in which we each choose to help people other than ourselves.

It is perfectly reasonable to question "giving" to Pakistan right now, not least because it has one of the most corrupt Governments in the world.

Very little of the "aid" given to Pakistan right now will end up helping the people that need it - far too much of it will end up lining the pockets of the countless officials who will receive, process and distribute said "aid".

Lashing out at people that question your viewpoint in the way that you do does your cause a great disservice and makes the ambivalent less likely to support it.

Wow. Heartless. It's amazing the things one's FB friends click on sometimes isn't it?

I'm married to a UK soldier. I hate those posts/her worship/sentimentality too.

wow Littlesilver! You're pretty unique for an army wife

LittleSilver - I agree with you with the hating sentimentality...not least from those least likely to do anything remotely worthy of worship.

But sentimentality is a wider problem than just this hero-worship of service personnel. It permeates all of our culture and does us no good...at all.

Altinkum - what corruption do you see in the UK, that makes it remotely comparable to Pakistan?

Try bribing a public official here and see how far you get.

If you don't do so in Pakistan, you get nowhere.

Barmy: agreed it's vomit inducing. People need to get a grip

Charity begins at home. It doesn't end there.

i also started a thread like this one as i hadnt realised this one was here.

i commented on the persons status. they havnt deleted me (yet) but now she has written a barrage of other status things to say she isnt racist yada yada yada.

i know that at the beginning of this "war" there were issues with troops equipment etc. is that still the case now or did the MOD sort that one out?

in any case, i fail to see how that should stop people giving aid for a national disaster?

this
irritates me far more than giving to people who need our help.

Altinkum - apologies...no, you don't make a comparison.

My point is simply that giving "aid" to a country like Pakistan will not solve its problems easily. Rather, it will line the pockets of its public officials and politicians.

I am still trying to work ot.
a) how our government can afford to send money abroad
B) if they do wtf that has to do with the army

But BA we are not trying to solve Pakistan's problems, we are trying to stop people dying horrible horrible deaths