British priorities

[Whathastheworldbecome]

Am I the only person who thinks foreign aid should be stopped due to the state of our own economy?

@BuzzShitbagBobbly

If you think we're in the shit you don't know the first thing about actual, real life poverty.

Poverty so bad your child dies of thirst - or water so contaminated it gives them horrible, but treatable, illnesses that you can't do anything about.

Poverty so bad you have to live in a one room makeshift shack next to an open sewer. Or just on a traffic island on the open road.

Poverty so bad your life expectancy is in your 20s or 30s.

I would not mind if our foreign aid went to the actual people whoa re in that kind of desperate poverty. But often it ends up in the pockets of those corrupt dictators who are running those countries so the genuinely needy never get a look in.

It's heartbreaking.

I wish you were the only one who thought like this Op.

So let’s take this argument a little further shall we. We pay foreign aid to countries which have levels of poverty that make most of the poorest in our society seem rich. Shall we stop giving to them?

Why are the better off areas in the UK funding poorer areas (it’s the same concept) where does “home” start? Shall I stop paying taxes and give the money to my already privileged son? After all, the state of his economics are currently not good. It doesn’t matter that the unemployed, elderly, et al need my taxes more. Again same principle.

If we want to get rid of poverty, we need to make sure the profits of the 99.3% of wealth left for UK plc is shared more evenly. I am party politically ambivalent, as I think Labour’s policies tend towards jealousy and a race to the bottom and Conservatives tend to encourage greed and stomping on those at the bottom. I was hugely impressed with the furlough plan, which I hope will protect a good percentage of the jobs, which will mean the UK getting taxes in the future, rather than paying benefits. I have also been impressed that Labour have started to hold the government to account, which is their current job

The world is getting smaller. An illness in China is quickly felt by Europe. Everyone who happened to be born in the UK is bloody lucky, we didn’t earn where were born. It is a lot of money, but such a small amount to such a wealthy country.....

You want the UK to stop providing Foreign Aid because it's the 7th largest economy on the planet?

If you think that the United Kingdom, one of the richest countries in the world, is in a bad state and there’s suffering, what exactly do you think it’s like in the poorest of countries? I really dislike the thinking of ‘helping our own first’ in this regard as this type of thinking is what actually creates and widens the wealth divide, it does not lower it.

Do I think that foreign aid needs some sort of reform so it actually reaches the poorest? I do. However, it also needs remembering that it also serves as a political tool regarding international relations which is of benefit to both countries. This is why I believe that an increase of foreign aid is actually needed with a large portion of it meant for true charity, certainly not a decrease or the abolition of it.

Its a shame that we have a need for economical migration/refugees (not migration in general) but do you know how we stop it? By helping to enrich the poorest so they don’t have a need to. No one has earned their place of birth, we all simply luck into it. Some however are just much luckier than others, something that can be said for many things in life.

Please look into what poverty actually looks like in some countries and imagine if it was your loved ones suffering from it. That’s the best advice I can give. You don’t need to feel bad for having the views you have, it’s easily done, you just learn from them and this. I really hope you are able to do so ❤️

You're not the only one but I wish you were.

Check this out. Just one country featured but it'll give you an idea of the power dynamics. The U.K. is not selflessly helping those who can't help themselves.

Also if you think we're so poor that we can't adequately protect our most vulnerable people you've simply not been paying attention. We're more than capable. Ask yourself why it hasn't been happening.

No, a huge part of aid is effectively subsidies for British industry.

"Hey well give you 10 million,but 9 million must be spent with British company xyz"

@Shamoo

If we hadn’t spent large parts of our history tearing apart many countries around the world and creating the issues that now exist in many of them, you may have a little more credibility. But we did. And now we are the fifth richest country in the world on the back of a history littered with us taking from other nations and ruining others. So it’s our duty to help.

The fact that we are so terribly run as a nation that we can’t look after our own people properly is a separate point. It shouldn’t be an either or situation. We should be able to use the vast vast wealth and riches we have to do the best by both sets of people in need.

I wish there was a like button for your post.