A fraying empire of obesity, ignorance, debt, gridlock, stagnation, and mindless war

[Reverend Rick]

Originally Posted by branson

im from the US and i agree we are fat and lazy, and our country is on the decline.

You forgot stupid as well. Our educational system is slipping steadily.

[Reverend Rick]

YouTube - Really Stupid People

[Revoltingest]

Originally Posted by Reverend Rick

YouTube - Really Stupid People

And many of them vote.

[autonomous1one1]

Originally Posted by Alceste

1on1, the US us pretty stingy if you look at a per capita figure, and particularly if you don't include military aid, most of which ends up back in the pockets of US arms producers.

Greetings Alceste. Glad to see that you have not gone the sympathy, empathy route of the Europeans and have kept your normal disdain. However, let two notions be offered that might allow you to think a little more kindly towards your southern neighbors should you be so inclined.

The first notion is that dollars per capita may not be the best measure of generosity. Take for example, a poor person donates a single dollar to a charity which is the person's last dollar for the month. A rich person donates one hundred dollars to the same charity but has a million dollars left in the bank. Dollars per capita would indicate the poor person to be 'stingy' with only a '1' for the indicator but the rich person to be generous with a score of '100.' The international Development Assistance Committee has established instead 'assistance dollars divided by Gross National Income (GNI)' as the indicator.

The second notion is that one can not judge a nation's generosity based on the Official Development Assistance (ODA) which is Government, nonmilitary assistance funds defined by the DAC. If you did, the US would be dead last (with Japan) in the ODA/GNI listing of the 22 participating nations; and maybe that is what you had in mind, Alceste. One turns to the Hudson Institute's "2010 Index of Global Philanthropy and Remittances" for better indication: http://www.hudson.org/files/pdf_uplo...ances_2010.pdf.

The problem with judging countries’ generosity and development impact by the measure of government aid alone is that the figure excludes the vast amounts of private giving from American foundations, corporations, private and voluntary organizations, universities and colleges, religious organizations and individuals sending money back to their home countries. A more complete way of measuring donor impact on the developing world is to look at a country’s total economic engagement—including official flows, philanthropy, remittances, and private capital flows—with developing countries. Table I provides this more complete picture of American investment and generosity in the developing world.

Ta b l e 1
U.s. total net economic engagement with developing countries, 2008 Billions of $ %
O u t f lOws
u.S. Official Development Assistance $26.8 17%
u.S. Private Philanthropy $37.3 23%
Foundations $4.3 12%
Corporations $7.7 21%
Private and Voluntary Organizations $11.8 32%
Volunteerism $3.6 10%
universities and Colleges $1.7 5%
Religious Organizations $8.2 22%
u.S. Remittances $96.8 60%
Total Outflows $160.9 100%
I n f lOws
u.S. Private Capital Flows $28.8 100%
Total Inflows $28.8 100%
U.s. total net economic engagement $132.1

When oda from the United States is measured as a percentage
of gni, the United States shares last place with Japan at
0.19%, ..... If, however, private philanthropy
and remittances are added to the equation, the United States
ranks in sixth place out of the 22 donor countries. (Note that Canada ranks second! you generous people you.) U.S. private
assistance alone compares favorably to other dac donor’s
oda. For example, American citizens, through contributions
of volunteer time and money to U.S. pvos, gave more to the
developing world in 2008 than any other dac donor gave in
oda alone. Total U.S. philanthropy at $37.3 billion represented
nearly one third of all donors’ oda.

If one looks at this with your indicator, Alceste, one gets the following with the US ranked eighth and $30 per head behind Canada:

[Alceste]

Originally Posted by autonomous1one1

Greetings Alceste. Glad to see that you have not gone the sympathy, empathy route of the Europeans and have kept your normal disdain. However, let two notions be offered that might allow you to think a little more kindly towards your southern neighbors should you be so inclined.

The first notion is that dollars per capita may not be the best measure of generosity. Take for example, a poor person donates a single dollar to a charity which is the person's last dollar for the month. A rich person donates one hundred dollars to the same charity but has a million dollars left in the bank. Dollars per capita would indicate the poor person to be 'stingy' with only a '1' for the indicator but the rich person to be generous with a score of '100.' The international Development Assistance Committee has established instead 'assistance dollars divided by Gross National Income (GNI)' as the indicator.

The second notion is that one can not judge a nation's generosity based on the Official Development Assistance (ODA) which is Government, nonmilitary assistance funds defined by the DAC. If you did, the US would be dead last (with Japan) in the ODA/GNI listing of the 22 participating nations; and maybe that is what you had in mind, Alceste. One turns to the Hudson Institute's "2010 Index of Global Philanthropy and Remittances" for better indication: http://www.hudson.org/files/pdf_uplo...ances_2010.pdf.

If one looks at this with your indicator, Alceste, one gets the following with the US ranked eighth and $30 per head behind Canada:

I stand corrected. I bet you'd even surpass us if you didn't have to worry about health insurance bills and other medical costs, as we don't.

[Alceste]

Originally Posted by autonomous1one1

Greetings Alceste. Glad to see that you have not gone the sympathy, empathy route of the Europeans and have kept your normal disdain. However, let two notions be offered that might allow you to think a little more kindly towards your southern neighbors should you be so inclined.

The first notion is that dollars per capita may not be the best measure of generosity. Take for example, a poor person donates a single dollar to a charity which is the person's last dollar for the month. A rich person donates one hundred dollars to the same charity but has a million dollars left in the bank. Dollars per capita would indicate the poor person to be 'stingy' with only a '1' for the indicator but the rich person to be generous with a score of '100.' The international Development Assistance Committee has established instead 'assistance dollars divided by Gross National Income (GNI)' as the indicator.

The second notion is that one can not judge a nation's generosity based on the Official Development Assistance (ODA) which is Government, nonmilitary assistance funds defined by the DAC. If you did, the US would be dead last (with Japan) in the ODA/GNI listing of the 22 participating nations; and maybe that is what you had in mind, Alceste. One turns to the Hudson Institute's "2010 Index of Global Philanthropy and Remittances" for better indication: http://www.hudson.org/files/pdf_uplo...ances_2010.pdf.

If one looks at this with your indicator, Alceste, one gets the following with the US ranked eighth and $30 per head behind Canada:

BTW, about empathy, I can't imagine I'll have much of that for the plight of Americans until the US gets out of Iraq and Afghanistan and calls off the build-up for war with Iran. I have no patience for warmongering or the tolerance of warmongering. If it's any consolation I'm equally disgusted with Canada at the moment for tolerating both the Liberals and the Conservatives, both of whom are way too keen on killing people in Afghanistan for my taste. New Zealand is pretty much the only English speaking country I still respect.

[autonomous1one1]

Originally Posted by Alceste

I stand corrected. I bet you'd even surpass us if you didn't have to worry about health insurance bills and other medical costs, as we don't.

lol, once you get that 'sympathy' back you'll probably take care of our medical expenses for us.

Originally Posted by Alceste

BTW, about empathy, I can't imagine I'll have much of that for the plight of Americans until the US gets out of Iraq and Afghanistan and calls off the build-up for war with Iran. I have no patience for warmongering or the tolerance of warmongering. If it's any consolation I'm equally disgusted with Canada at the moment for tolerating both the Liberals and the Conservatives, both of whom are way too keen on killing people in Afghanistan for my taste. New Zealand is pretty much the only English speaking country I still respect.

Very reasonable from your perspective.