Jack and the She-talk

[Unregistered-still trying]

China

There is one thing the USA does better than any other country and that is why China never wants to get off the favored list. We CONSUME. If we slow down guess what happens in China. They never want us to stop buying from them and we probably will not.
As the CISCO CEO said at the opening of their China offices "Our history was in North America and our future is HERE".

The USA's future will look something like France. 70% of the students graduating with advanced college degrees in France hope to get a job with the government. Do not let your kids and grandkids grow up to be cowboys. Have them become government workers.

[jainen]

Pure American hubris

>>They never want us to stop buying<<

Pure American hubris, that. We believe that everybody else needs us so much more than we need them. Well, the only way we can keep buying from China is if they keep giving us the money. Then we still have to pay them back for all the money that we already spent over there. How much sense does that make?

Besides, for all the big deal we make about our ideology of free markets and so on, the Chinese are vastly more ideological than our open society could ever be. They prefer their own ways.

[Black Bart]

What's so distasteful

>>They never want us to stop buying<<

Pure American hubris, that. We believe that everybody else needs us so much more than we need them. Well, the only way we can keep buying from China is if they keep giving us the money. Then we still have to pay them back for all the money that we already spent over there. How much sense does that make?

Besides, for all the big deal we make about our ideology of free markets and so on, the Chinese are vastly more ideological than our open society could ever be. They prefer their own ways.

about Americans feeling pretty good about themselves? Should we try to emulate the Chinese human rights "program"? Or consider ourselves beneath the crowd that wants our heads mounted on sticks?

[sea-tax]

about Americans feeling pretty good about themselves? Should we try to emulate the Chinese human rights "program"? Or consider ourselves beneath the crowd that wants our heads mounted on sticks?

Here! Here! BB I agree.

Furthermore if the US is not the "CATS MEOW" than why do they all look to us for assistance when the world has a disaster.
I personally would prefer the rest of the world just said thank you and remembered to not bight the hand that feeds them.

[jainen]

they don't

>>they all look to us for assistance when the world has a disaster<<

Oh yes, I agree we have a great spirit and history. Apparently you haven't noticed that our current situation is different from our history. The tsunami, for example--we sent almost nothing, compared to the rest of the world. Our big contribution, I recall, was a couple of boatloads of water.

You can talk about the hand that feeds them, but we no longer give more than we take. We can't, because we don't HAVE more, because we moved our production facilities out of the country. So we buy more than we sell, and we pay for it by borrowing from the very people we are buying from, and we have no way to pay it back except by borrowing more. That is a current economic fact.

It may be that China can't afford to call in the debt, or even to stop refinancing, because if we default they will have to write off a trillion dollars. They can't keep doing this forever, though, unless they have unlimited economic growth. And if they do have that, we aren't so important to them, right? And maybe they should appreciate us more, but they don't.

[Black Bart]

I don't think that's right.

>>The tsunami...we sent almost nothing, compared to the rest of the world. Our big contribution, I recall, was a couple of boatloads of water.

Here's a donor list from BBC, the leftist, anti-American media network: #1-Japan-$500 million, #2-USA-$350m (we later raised it to $950), #6-China-$85m.

Full details at www.bbcnews.com (at website -- type in "Tsunami aid: Who's giving what" in the search box)

Actually, we did send a lot of drinking water -- it's usually the first thing people need all day, every day, because theirs is contaminated by dead bodies.

[Matt Sova]

jainen

I usually agree with you, but the US sent more in the way of money, people and aid after the tsunami. Hell, if I remember correctly, contributions from private US citizens were greater than most countries including Canada.

[Bird Legs]

Tsunami Relief

Did the figure that the U. S. gave in relief include all the donations by the various
charitable organizations? In the Methodist church there was a big drive for donations
for the relief fund.

[Jan]

Interesting article on how much does US give

http://www.cgdev.org/content/opinion/detail/2959/

[Black Bart]

No

Did the figure that the U. S. gave in relief include all the donations by the various
charitable organizations? In the Methodist church there was a big drive for donations
for the relief fund.

That was figures for government aid only. I couldn't find current figures, but here's a quote from last year on private gifts and a list of donors:

"U.S. private-sector contributions to tsunami relief already have topped $360 million and are expected to reach nearly $700 million when planned fundraising is complete, according to figures released January 11 by the Center of Philanthropy at Indiana University...Throughout the United States, charitable organizations...are engaging in fundraising efforts...in addition, nearly every major U.S. religious denomination seems to be actively supporting the relief effort."

Corporate donors:
160,000 - Levi Strauss
490,000 - Chevron
750,000 - General Mills
4,000,000 - Abbot Laboratories
10,000,000 - General Electric
3,000,000 - Bill Gates
10,000,000 - Pfizer Inc.
10,000,000 - Coca-Cola
5,000,000 - Exxon
3,000,000 - Citigroup
5,000,000 - Dow Chemical
13,000,000 - Amazon.com
2,000,000 - Wal-Mart
3,000,000 - Merck
1,000,000 - Bristol-Myers
1,000,000 - Nike
1,000,000 - American Express
1,000,000 - First Data
1,000,000 - Pepsi
2,500,000 - Cisco
3,000,000 - Dell Computer
2,500,000 - Stucc On Steel
1,500,000 - Kimberly-Clark
1,000,000 - Prudential Insurance
1,000,000 - Carnegie Corp.
1,000,000 - NYSE
20,000.000 - Doctors Without Borders-U.S. chapter
10,000,000 - Citihope International (U.S. Christian relief agency)
160,000,000 - Red Cross
8,000,000 - Brothers' Brother Foundation (Pennsylvania)
1,000,000 - Proctor & Gamble
2,000,000 - Johnson & Johnson

The above article jan links to was written by one David Roodman, a Research "Fellow" at one of those think-tanks. He claims that "an honest survey of how America and its government affect poorer nations gives plenty of cause for shame...when it comes to foreign aid...we are in fact stingy." Further, he says the U.S. gives only 15 cents per American ($54.75 per year) per day while the much more admirable French (the article seems be drawing that conclusion) kick in 33 cents each per day.

Still, I'm always a little suspicious of those academic "Fellows" because I believe they can make figures jump through hoops like some taxpayers do. Maybe there are more Americans than Frenchmen or maybe we give to other things too (is there a French Peace Corp?). My BBC article above listed France's totals at $66m-gov. and $90m private. Seems a tad light compared to the U.S.' $950 million (gov. alone), but maybe that's just me. Anyway, he goes on to say "...the lesson is clear: the U.S. could do much more to support the efforts of poor people in developing countries..."

Funny thing, I saw hardly any Arab countries at all on that donor list, but David and his liberal pals don't see any problem with that. It's us that's the problem -- we don't give 100% of our money to others or feel appropriately guilty. Gosh, it seems like we just can't do enough to please people -- should we maybe send a blank check? Just a thought, but have you ever seen those TV pictures of stacks and stacks of grain delivered to Third World countries? Does the imprint usually read "donated by" (pick one) USA / Iran / Saudia Arabia / France / Syria / Hamas / North Korea / who?

I wonder -- what if we just stopped. Do you think our "stingy" efforts would be missed?

[sea-tax]

Well thank you BB and Sova . I unfortunately was in meetings earlier and have not been able to respond .

The fact is that no other country in the world gives as much as our gov't and private sector.
I say again I would prefer that the rest of the world just say thanks and keep their mouths shut. I equate it to the military and the freedoms which those brave men and women grant us. I personally think we should say thank you to them and not concern ourselves with the manner in which they provide those freedoms to us. I know it is a line from a movie but it sure makes sense.

[Bird Legs]

How about foreign countries

helping the U.S.? After Katrina, there was some foreign aid, but how much and from whom?
Just Asking.

[Black Bart]

We got a decent amount of help.

helping the U.S.? After Katrina, there was some foreign aid, but how much and from whom?
Just Asking.

I looked it up -- response was pretty good from all around the world -- the list is too lengthy to post. We even had offers of aid from Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Syria, and others not on our "buddy" list (don't know if we took them up on it or not). Most of it was supplies and personnel, although Australia, Canada, Kuwait, and a few others sent lots of cash too.

Still, if the tables were turned and the USA sent modest amounts of such non-cash aid, our Research "Fellow" above would be screaming bloody murder and "Cheapskates!"