Why is it always the US that is expected to help the world when it comes to disasters

[dainthomas]

This isn't charity or being generous at all since the government is taking money from the people to give to the Philippines. If people want to donate then let them but the government shouldn't.

I'd send my nuclear carrier, but I'm using its fresh water to cool my oc'd gaming rig.

 

[Tom]

not really, the US has 100 million more people than France + UK + Germany but they still outspend you by several billion according to that chart.

The people getting the aid don't care about per capita rates of giving, they want food and shelter.

The USA gets stuff DONE, and pays for a helluva lot.

The point is, it isn't right to deny this.

 

[Tom]

This isn't charity or being generous at all since the government is taking money from the people to give to the Philippines. If people want to donate then let them but the government shouldn't.

And I thought according to obama the US was in sequester and severe cuts had to be made yet now these idiots can find $20 million to give away.

The government should if we want them too. And we do.

 

[Zargon]

you do realize that the EU itself has a foreign aid budget of $72 billion, which is managed by the EU. Disregarding that number because we don't put a hat on the EU that says government just shows how far you Americans are willing to go to maintain your image of American exceptionalism. This isn't about who has the biggest symbolic penis, this thread is all about Americans waving their pecker around like it's the greatest thing in the world and disregarding Europe's larger dick because it's not circumcised...

and where is your 4.5bil carrier you are lending?

I am guessing that the #'s published don't include any offsets for the 20K troops and all the expensive ships we are sending to help, that no one else has. probably could double our 'donation' in the manpower and hardware we are donating

its bar far the biggest symbolic wang around and you cant touch it


http://jalopnik.com/what-exactly-is-the-uss-george-washington-doing-in-the-1465786370

 

[bshole]

This is telling, the 5 most liked nations in the world in order are...

1. Germany
2. Canada
3. U.K
4. Japan
5. France

This kind of proves that if you go around killing people and blowing things up, you aren't going to win any popularity contests (even if you give out free swag).

I know that I like Canada much much more than I like the U.S. I would like to retire there someday and become a citizen. America is turning into a country I really don't care much for anymore.

http://www.realclearworld.com/lists/top_ten_most_popular_countries/canada.html?state=stop

 

[Exterous]

and where is your 4.5bil carrier you are lending?

I am guessing that the #'s published don't include any offsets for the 20K troops and all the expensive ships we are sending to help, that no one else has. probably could double our 'donation' in the manpower and hardware we are donating

its bar far the biggest symbolic wang around and you cant touch it


http://jalopnik.com/what-exactly-is-the-uss-george-washington-doing-in-the-1465786370

Hey! The British have a destroyer on station and sent a plane

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24982656

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Because, as the wealthiest nation on earth, as a compassionate people, we expect it of ourselves. Well, other than our selfish rightwing haters, currently displaying those very qualities.

As someone you'd probably brand a "rightwing hater" (sic), I'd wager I've given more money to help the victims of the typhoon than you have. I'd also wager I gave more to help the Katrina victims than you did. Your ideology-tinted lenses obviously can't see the difference between private citizens giving charity of free will vs. forced charity from your beloved government. There's a huge difference.

 

[sandorski]

I'd be willing to bet that the large number of bases, heavy lift aircraft, vertical take off and landing aircraft (Ospreys), and large navy allows us to effectively get critical aid supplies (food, medicine, shelter) to location significantly faster in the hours/days immediately following a disaster when they are most critically needed than anyone else in a large number of situations. We had already delivered ~ 110,000lbs of supplies the evening of Nov 11th

Fair point.

 

[Broheim]

Europeans took far more native American lands than the United States did.

tell you what, you give the land back to us and we give it back to the Indians...

Really ? What about WW2 ? WW1 ? India/Pakistan partition ? Dividing up the Middle East ? The Crusades ? The destruction and enslavement of North and South American culture and people ?

The colonization of Africa ? Enslavement of Africans ? Southeast Asia ?

All created by the EU countries.

For that matter, the EU is responsible for the creation of the United States, so if you think we're so bad that's also on Europe's head.

at some point those people are going to have to take responsibility for their own actions, but if you want to continue that line of thought this is all the Mongolians fault, hell this is all Africa's fault.

The people getting the aid don't care about per capita rates of giving, they want food and shelter.

The USA gets stuff DONE, and pays for a helluva lot.

The point is, it isn't right to deny this.

I have at no point denied that the US gives any aid, but I take offense to the fact that the OP and others would claim the Europe does nothing when we are in fact the ones that give the most.

 

[Broheim]

and where is your 4.5bil carrier you are lending?

I am guessing that the #'s published don't include any offsets for the 20K troops and all the expensive ships we are sending to help, that no one else has. probably could double our 'donation' in the manpower and hardware we are donating

its bar far the biggest symbolic wang around and you cant touch it


http://jalopnik.com/what-exactly-is-the-uss-george-washington-doing-in-the-1465786370

all the numbers for the US I have seen have had military expenditure factored in, it really doesn't cost the military much to provide logistics when they're already paying all the major expenses to just sail around the neighborhood.

 

[Mxylplyx]

The US sending humanitarian aid to countries in need achieves 100x more political return than sending bombs.

 

[StinkyPinky]

The people getting the aid don't care about per capita rates of giving, they want food and shelter.

The USA gets stuff DONE, and pays for a helluva lot.

The point is, it isn't right to deny this.

That's not the point of this discussion though it is? The OP claimed the Euro's sit around drinking tea and do nothing. That's clearly not true. The US may do more but that's due to simple numbers and not anything to do with Euros being lazy and uncaring.

As for past actions...that shit needs to be let go. People in the now can't control what people did 200 years ago. White guilt achieves little.

 

[JTsyo]

Because we live in bubbles and don't realize that other countries actually do send billions in aid?

And percentage-wise, we're pretty shitty. It's not that other countries are that stellar, but we're pretty low even by low standards.

Example - it's a bit dated but you can see the US government doesn't give all that much, private contributions are ranked higher.

Another article

The U.N. target, which both Sweden and Norway exceed, is 0.7 percent of GDP as foreign aid; the U.S. currently gives 0.19 percent.

 

[Zargon]

all the numbers for the US I have seen have had military expenditure factored in, it really doesn't cost the military much to provide logistics when they're already paying all the major expenses to just sail around the neighborhood.

fuel costs a buttload man


all those sailors are on salary

 

[Tom]

tell you what, you give the land back to us and we give it back to the Indians...



at some point those people are going to have to take responsibility for their own actions, but if you want to continue that line of thought this is all the Mongolians fault, hell this is all Africa's fault.



I have at no point denied that the US gives any aid, but I take offense to the fact that the OP and others would claim the Europe does nothing when we are in fact the ones that give the most.

Well, this thread is about disaster relief, not foreign aid.

Foreign aid has to do with diplomacy, appeasement, taking responsibility for an f'ed up policy, and maybe humanitarian aid, sometimes.

A huge part of EU's foreign aid is about protecting their own interests, that's true of US foreign aid too.

But it's not the same as disaster relief. And no one's saying the EU doesn't contribute to disaster relief.

 

[Veliko]

Well, this thread is about disaster relief, not foreign aid.

Foreign aid has to do with diplomacy, appeasement, taking responsibility for an f'ed up policy, and maybe humanitarian aid, sometimes.

A huge part of EU's foreign aid is about protecting their own interests, that's true of US foreign aid too.

But it's not the same as disaster relief. And no one's saying the EU doesn't contribute to disaster relief.

The OP most certainly is, which is what he said in the post you replied to.

 

[Tom]

The OP most certainly is, which is what he said in the post you replied to.

well, I should have said I'm not saying it instead of no one.

 

[Broheim]

fuel costs a buttload man


all those sailors are on salary

well yeah, fuel costs money but I don't think it actually costs THAT much more to provide aid. It's not like the planes are just sitting on the tarmac waiting for stuff like this to happen.

Well, this thread is about disaster relief, not foreign aid.

Foreign aid has to do with diplomacy, appeasement, taking responsibility for an f'ed up policy, and maybe humanitarian aid, sometimes.

A huge part of EU's foreign aid is about protecting their own interests, that's true of US foreign aid too.

But it's not the same as disaster relief. And no one's saying the EU doesn't contribute to disaster relief.

disaster relief is part of foreign aid and Europe provides over half of all official humanitarian aid in the world(according to the European Commission).

The OP is saying that we don't provide any aid.

 

[Jhhnn]

As someone you'd probably brand a "rightwing hater" (sic), I'd wager I've given more money to help the victims of the typhoon than you have. I'd also wager I gave more to help the Katrina victims than you did. Your ideology-tinted lenses obviously can't see the difference between private citizens giving charity of free will vs. forced charity from your beloved government. There's a huge difference.

Yeh, there's a huge difference, alright- the amount of private charity involved is totally inadequate for the purposes at hand, which is one of the reasons we have govt in the first place, to force smug & self righteous skinflints to contribute more than they would otherwise.

"I gave more than you did!" is just talking out your ass, particularly when the amounts involved aren't enough to make a serious difference.

Get over yourself.

 

[davmat787]

"I gave more than you did!" is just talking out your ass, particularly when the amounts involved aren't enough to make a serious difference.

Get over yourself.

You're right. We should all stop making private donations since as you said, it's not enough to make a serious difference.

You need to get over yourself.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Yeh, there's a huge difference, alright- the amount of private charity involved is totally inadequate for the purposes at hand, which is one of the reasons we have govt in the first place, to force smug & self righteous skinflints to contribute more than they would otherwise.

Oh, so you enjoy having a government which "forces" people to "contribute" to whatever goals it sees fit? The truth comes out. Not that it surprises anyone who has read your screen diarrhea over the years. Your choice of language is very telling.

"I gave more than you did!" is just talking out your ass, particularly when the amounts involved aren't enough to make a serious difference.

That's a very interesting hypothesis you have there, but as usual in your posts, it is wrong. Just last week, the American Red Cross committed an additional $5 million to the typhoon relief effort, raising the total to $11 million SO FAR JUST FROM THE RED CROSS. That's more than many nations have contributed and more is going. That's an insignificant amount? REALLY? Want to try again, sparky? Guess where that money comes from? Donations from corporations and people like me. So spare me your usual ignorant, condescending stupidity.

The only person talking out of his ass here is you with your same, tired argument "but..but...righties!" You're just a typical clueless Democrat mouthpiece that when Obama commands "Bark!," you're the first one here repeating whatever his teleprompter told him to say.

You're right. We should all stop making private donations since as you said, it's not enough to make a serious difference.

You need to get over yourself.

You'll have to forgive JJJJhhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnn. It must be very hard seeing his heroes Obama, Reid, and Pelosi scrambling for cover as yet another Democrat plan (ACA) results in humiliation and finger pointing in his own party. He is just acting out.

 

[Exterous]

That's a very interesting hypothesis you have there, but as usual in your posts, it is wrong. Just last week, the American Red Cross committed an additional $5 million to the typhoon relief effort, raising the total to $11 million SO FAR JUST FROM THE RED CROSS. That's more than many nations have contributed and more is going. That's an insignificant amount? REALLY?

According to the UN thats more than the UAE, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Spain, European Commission, Austria, Italy, Finland, Russia, Mexico, Belgium, Japan, South Africa, Singapore, Czech R, Saudi Arabia and New Zealand. Guess those countries shouldn't have bothered since what chance does the ~$80 million total donated by those countries really have at helping anyone?

http://www.unocha.org/crisis/typhoonhaiyan

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Whitehouse generated fact sheet for the US's response.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/11/19/fact-sheet-us-response-typhoon-haiyan

U.S. Assistance at a Glance
U.S. humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan includes:

• USAID / Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA)

$20,000,000

• USAID / Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP)

$10,000,000

• Department of Defense

$7,230,302 In the days following the storm, U.S. assistance has included:

• Emergency shelter materials for 20,000 families (100,000 people)
• Hygiene kits for 20,000 families (100,000 people)
• 55 metric tons of food assistance benefitting 19,800 families (99,000 people)
• Water containers for 14,400 families (72,000 people)
• Restored functionality of the Tacloban municipal water system, benefiting 200,000 people.

There are currently 15 USAID disaster response specialists and approximately 9,500 U.S. military personnel responding to the crisis.

U.S. military aircraft have logged some 945 flight hours, delivered more than 750,000 pounds of relief supplies and equipment, moved more than 1,200 relief workers into Tacloban, and airlifted nearly 5,640 survivors from storm affected areas.

A significant amount of U.S. assistance has also supported logistical operations, including helping get airports up and running, providing communications support, expanding transportation capacity, and establishing aid distribution centers.

 

[waggy]

Whitehouse generated fact sheet for the US's response.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/11/19/fact-sheet-us-response-typhoon-haiyan

and that is not counting all the private donations going.


I would say most country's are trying to give. we are trying to help.

 

[Tom]

well yeah, fuel costs money but I don't think it actually costs THAT much more to provide aid. It's not like the planes are just sitting on the tarmac waiting for stuff like this to happen.



disaster relief is part of foreign aid and Europe provides over half of all official humanitarian aid in the world(according to the European Commission).

The OP is saying that we don't provide any aid.

I don't think that's what he meant. I think he's talking about the USA's ability and willingness to respond to disasters quickly.

Which is made possible by our large military presence, particularly our Navy. Which btw also is the largest factor in the safe transit of cargo world-wide, which facilitates thre global economy for lots of countries.

Two positive factors provided for by our military, a military which we are frequently criticized for.