Serious Business.

Up until this point I have mainly used my blog to post about random things, like what I did that day or things that I like or don't like.  However, I want to change gears a little bit today and talk about a more serious issue.  When I originally had the idea to create a blog I wanted to include discussions on current events and issues prevalent to our society, with the goal being to inform and stimulate discussion.  This will be the first post of hopefully many to come on a "hot topic", with the topic being foreign aid.

I'm currently taking a class about ethical problems and public issues in our society.  During class we've touched on same sex marriage, the death penalty, pornography, assisted suicide and many other controversial topics.  The class has opened my eyes to a lot of opinions and views that different people hold.  I've always said that a lot of problems that our society faces cannot be easily solved because in many cases both sides are correct to some extent.  My in class discussion today on foreign aid made that blatantly clear....

An introduction to the issue:

Hunger and poverty are undeniably major issues in our world today.  According to the United Nation's Human Development Report 2005, over a billion people survive on less than a dollar a day while another 1.5 billion people survive on between 1 and 2 dollars a day.  That means about 2.5/6 billion or 42% of the worlds population live on less than $2 a day.  On top of this the population of those living in poverty is doubling approximately every 35 years, while the population of those living in wealthy nations is doubling every 87 years.

So, as human beings do we have a responsibility to help those who are living in poverty?  In many cases the living conditions of those living in poverty are brought on in part because of inefficient and/or corrupt political and business institutions, meaning that many people have no choice in what their standard of living is.  They're completely innocent.  But on the other side are handouts really the best way to stimulate a broken economy and improve the living standard?  One of the main arguments against foreign aid is that by giving handouts wealthy countries are discouraging people from trying to create a better life and become independent.  The classic proverb "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime," is automatically brought to mind.

Other interesting thoughts/questions on this topic.
-What determines a proper living standard?  Is it when people are no longer hungry?  Is it when people are capable of becoming educated?
-Should eliminating poverty in our own country be ahead of helping the poorest countries in the world?
-How can we stimulate economic growth in countries where corrupt governments are in place?
-Should developing countries be able to use unclean resources as a means to kick-start economic growth?
-Is limiting population growth a way to limit poverty?

Ready to chat.
Kat