To not much care about the rest of the world but care deeply about the UK

[CatieBlanket]

It's a mess out there, always has been and, let's be honest, always will be. When we intervene we tend to make things worse (Afghanistan, Iraq to name but two). The new governments end us as corrupt as the ones that were overthrown. Aid money is, on the whole, squandered. Billions of £ & $ & € of it

A significant minority of men just love to kill indiscriminately. The others love to oppress women.

The situation in the Middle East is unsolvable and the poverty in African too vast for us to deal with.

I'm actually becoming immune to hearing about hostages being beheaded and suspect many of us are, hence ISIS new method of murder by immolation.

So let's concentrate on righting the wrongs of our island. Sort out the NHS, get people into work, look after the vulnerable, stop domestic violence and child abuse, build decent housing for people who live here?

AIBU (Labour supporter, by the way before, anyone accuses me of being UKIP)

Leaving aside the economics of it what the OP is really saying is:

I don't understand what is happening in the rest of the world.

My concept of my country is that it is a failed Knight in shining armour and there is nothing more the brave Knight can do.

I fear the world, and everything in it that I don't understand, so I will concentrate on what I do understand.

My world has shrunk.

Please tell me you are neither a teacher nor politician OP?

“I think there are two ways in which people are controlled. First of all frighten people and secondly, demoralise them.” Tony Benn

Skimmed thread. Sorry if repeating.

YANBU to an extent OP.

My take on it is that on a day to day level the massive problems in other countries do seem utterly unsolvable when you take into account that here at home, in our vastly more stable, safe and democratic county, we cant even sort out a relatively basic thing like the NHS.

Doom overload was mentioned up-thread, and i think that a lot of people are suffering from it now. Sanctimoniously labeling folk who feel this way as being uncaring or cold is unfair. It is good to care about what goes on in other countries, and to other people out there. But us sat simply caring as hard as we can in our sitting rooms, because it's the humanitarian thing to do, isn't actually helping anyone at the end of the day.

Hey OP - I have a great idea for you!

Why don't you make a meme of a sick white person in a hospital bed with the plea: "This year we should donate all the money raised for Comic Relief to British causes - who is brave enough to re-post" and post it on Facebook - when someone did that last time it was a really handy way for me to weed out the idiot bigots.

I've always been bemused by the lazy assumption that wars are the fault of men, and that if women ruled the world, we'd live in a peaceful utopia (yes, I'm looking at you, Maggie Thatcher, Imelda Marcos, Golda Meir etc).

It seems to assume that men are directly responsible for society's ills, but that the invention of modern medicine, welfare, science and technology are simply the result of structural inequalities, and not the inherent and unique talents of the (usually) men involved. This seems to be a typical case of having your cake and eating it.

I believe 100% in sex equality and women's liberation, but I do often wonder if women ruled the world, we might still be living in mud huts and painting ourselves with woad (not necessarily a bad thing). Maybe all that nasty testosterone-fuelled competition does serve a purpose after all.

What a shame you are getting such flak, OP.

I think you are right.

My DP worked for oh, about 20 years in muslim countries, his view is we can't fix them. We are wasting our time.

I have just listened to the medical programme on Radio 4 around 3 or 3.30. A GP told of crying all the way to work as he couldn't see how to get through his work and cope with running his own practice. And staff dreading going to work, the risk of being shamed by being named on newspaper headlines. I mean all that could be fixed without spending millions. Just recognizing the good work that IS done would be a start.

Hundreds of refugees drowned over the last few days trying to get to Italy. What is the answer, do we just put on planes for the thousands/millions of third world residents who would like to live in Europe. What is the answer? Saving a handful by giving to comic relief and digging a few wells is not going to change anything.

But improving things in the UK would at least be something.

You have a very simplistic view of how foreign aid should work, Moniker.

No, the UK shouldn't go in and "fix" other countries. The UK does not have a superior moral standpoint that it should be imposing on other countries. The UK should support other countries in facing their problems in a manner that that country choses and that they control. That is the idea behind modern aid these days.

The idea you are suggesting to in your post above sounds like the ideas behind old colonialism. It is about time Britain got out of that mentality.

I agree with the OP.

I care more about the rest of the world than the UK, personally. I don't like the OPs post, particularly given her history, and it makes me uncomfortable.

Of course YABU.
It just makes me despair when I hear views like yours.

I care about what happens here more so because it's on my radar on a daily basis but I do care deeply about what goes on in the rest of the world because my children might end up there through their own choices in years to come.

Virtually everything you own is made from a different country. Virtually everything you eat is from a different country. We are interlocked and dependant on the rest of the world.

But fuck 'em, eh.

The UK should support other countries in facing their problems in a manner that that country choses and that they control

But that country might be half sunni religion half shia - which half will you 'support in facing their problems' Sonja.

Your comments sound too simplistic, that is my point, that there is no quick fix, so step back and sort ourselves out. It would be nice if we could then demonstrate a country where we have come to terms with /found a solution to our differences and are living successfully and THEN able to support other less fortunate countries.

The UK should support other countries in facing their problems

Some countries think the problem IS the Uk and other countries interfering and trying to enforce their democracy on them.

There is good evidence showing that support for redistributive taxation and a welfare state decreases as population diversity increases

Interesting, Othehugemanatee, but common sense in a way, you want to protect you and yours (or those that are like them) rather than random strangers.

YANBU. We havent got a bloody clue about the middle east and its various religious factions; never have had, never will. Apart from helping refugees from the likes of syria, we should stay out. Ditto africa where, let's be honest, they do things differently. Stay well out of it, i say.

I keep starting to type responses but really my OP says it all.

Catie - apologies for my earlier post. I had you muddled with another poster!

I still think you're BU mind!

should we stay out of Greece as well, because, let's be honest, they do things differently?

there are people in this country who do not care about anyone except themselves and would rather not pay tax for the nhs, state schooling, benefits. they feel that everyone should sort themselves out. does that sound like a reasonable extrapolation of the original op? they might claim that 70 years of the welfare state is enough for everyone in this country to have sorted themselves out

Can you really be immune tp the world news?
I wish i could but i can not. Last week's news (re the Jordan pilot) upset me so much to the point that i couldnt sleep. I dont know if i am pathetic but i cant help it. I 'm trying not to care but i can not manage it.

Also everything is interlink and imo everything affects everybody. If not right now then it will in the future.

No problem, Tartan

Laquitar - I'm at the stage where, when it comes to foreign affairs, what really concerns me is how close the bullets are to me. If it wasn't for the internet we'd be unaware of most of the atrocities in the world and all the better for it.

all the better for it

Well, I'm All Right Jack.

Your OP is one of the most offensive posts I've ever read on here.

Do see where you coming from. News so depressing ive not put it on for weeks. May make me selfish but tbh my own little life is so busy at the moment im not seeing above it...

Makes me want to move to a cottage in the Welsh mountains and live off what I grow...... But then I think, no, I've got kids stepping out into the world. Best if we continue looking for ways to solve problems..... That's the best attitude to take I think

I think you have to care, but it does make sense to get your own house in order before you start interfering in other people's affairs. One of the reasons modern-day Germany is so successful is precisely because they haven't wasted time, effort and money getting involved in wars here there and everywhere since 1945. It would be good if we spent less money on trying to be the big man in the world and more money on sorting out problems here. That doesn't mean that we can't still have an aid budget (and make sure it gets spent properly). But we should stay out of military issues.

Interestingly we seem to be staying out of the Ukraine debacle and leaving Angela Merkel to sort that one out.

I understand what you mean OP, but I'm in my 50s and so have had years of seeing and hearing about the starving and the oppressed and the victims of war. I don't think we should withdraw from trying to help others overseas, but I feel very strongly that we should look at why our interventions at so many levels are ineffective long-term.
I was a student, looking in horror at the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge, studying the environmental damage of the Vietnam war aftermath.
The Uganda famine, where our government sent aid and Amin used the grain and goods to pay his soldiers rather than feed the people.
I was an enthusiastic young teacher when BandAid first happened, millions starving and trapped in poverty in Ethiopia. 30 years later, the region is still in poverty and war.

So we need to look very hard at why interventions fail, who should be involved and what international organisations can do to be more effective.
Germany and Japan are thriving economies, and there are many more who have come back from devastation and poverty to be able to provide basic standards of living for their populations.
I am very weary and saddened by the lack of change, the hydra effect. But if I turned my back, I'd feel less human.