Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Sir Pseudonymous]

I don't mean that in a right versus left sense, but in an internal "this attitude is sabotaging the things the left is working for that are actually important and achievable" way.

[RedKing]

I'm unsure when foreign charity became a left/right issue and not a human/inhuman issue. To my knowledge there are many right-leaning charities if only because of the usual religion of the right. I can do this roll eyes thing too, here, watch -> 

It's long been a left/right thing. Paleoconservatism a la Pat Buchanan says, "Screw those other countries. Cancel all foreign aid and spend it here at home." Which is more or less what SirP is saying.

[GlyphGryph]

Congratulations, different people have different priorities.

And honestly, from my experience with it, spending the money in foreign countries is actually a hell of a lot more effective at improving quality of life than spending it locally, if only because of the exchange rates. Sure there's often corruption and embezzling and what not, but theres also plenty of political gains from foreign aid as well. And above all...

Being poor in the USA isn't really that bad. I've been poor and a homeless. We live in a society that is so affluent, a person can quite easily survive with nothing but the clothes on their back (and there's help available to get them that much often enough). Of course its tempting in a situation like that, where real noticeable improvements are extremely expensive undertakings, to spend money somewhere where each dollar can have a lot more impact.

[RedKing]

To re-rail the thread, I have some sources indicating that we may be adding Cameroon to the list of shit-hitting-fan countries in the next couple of days.

[Nadaka]

To re-rail the thread, I have some sources indicating that we may be adding Cameroon to the list of shit-hitting-fan countries in the next couple of days.

At this point, my previous comment about world war 3 is looking at least slightly less cynical. Gadafi was talking about cleansing Libya, being a martyr and taking his country with him.

[RedKing]

Like I said at some point a few pages back, I think this has hit a tipping point where it's gone beyond just being an "Arab thing". I think 2011 will go down as one of those Year of Revolutions, like 1848.

People all over the world are watching Tunisia and Egypt and Libya and saying, "If they can do it, why not us?"
If it really starts to spread into sub-Saharan Africa, shit's going to get real in a hurry. Would not be at all surprised if Mugabe winds up like Qaddafi (and like Qaddafi, I don't see Mugabe resigning. He'll take Zimbabwe into the flames with him.)

[lumin]

Like I said at some point a few pages back, I think this has hit a tipping point where it's gone beyond just being an "Arab thing". I think 2011 will go down as one of those Year of Revolutions, like 1848.

People all over the world are watching Tunisia and Egypt and Libya and saying, "If they can do it, why not us?"
If it really starts to spread into sub-Saharan Africa, shit's going to get real in a hurry. Would not be at all surprised if Mugabe winds up like Qaddafi (and like Qaddafi, I don't see Mugabe resigning. He'll take Zimbabwe into the flames with him.)

It's also quite telling that the only countries where the people are not rioting is Israel and Iraq, considering it's affecting nearly every other state in the region.  Guess Representative Democracy works pretty well, even in the Mid-East.

[Taricus]

They are rioting in Iraq. and Israel has scared it's moderate and arab populations aswell.

[RedKing]

Like I said at some point a few pages back, I think this has hit a tipping point where it's gone beyond just being an "Arab thing". I think 2011 will go down as one of those Year of Revolutions, like 1848.

People all over the world are watching Tunisia and Egypt and Libya and saying, "If they can do it, why not us?"
If it really starts to spread into sub-Saharan Africa, shit's going to get real in a hurry. Would not be at all surprised if Mugabe winds up like Qaddafi (and like Qaddafi, I don't see Mugabe resigning. He'll take Zimbabwe into the flames with him.)

It's also quite telling that the only countries where the people are not rioting is Israel and Iraq, considering it's affecting nearly every other state in the region.  Guess Representative Democracy works pretty well, even in the Mid-East.

What Taricus said. Although I wouldn't classify a lot of the activity in most countries "rioting" yet. For instance, there have been protests in Jordan and Oman, but they've been non-violent and restrained. Whereas there's been some bona fide rioting in Mosul.

And in the last couple of months there's actually been an increasing trend of moderate Israelis protesting their own government and being met with increasingly harsh response from the Netanyahu government.

[Taricus]

Nobody likes being on the short end of neo-liberalism.

[Sir Pseudonymous]

I'm unsure when foreign charity became a left/right issue and not a human/inhuman issue. To my knowledge there are many right-leaning charities if only because of the usual religion of the right. I can do this roll eyes thing too, here, watch -> 

It's long been a left/right thing. Paleoconservatism a la Pat Buchanan says, "Screw those other countries. Cancel all foreign aid and spend it here at home." Which is more or less what SirP is saying.

Crucial difference being that rightists also fight domestic spending tooth and nail, unless it's being doled out in absurd amounts to incompetent contractors, who then end up not actually accomplishing what they were paid too much to do in the first place...

Also, most "Foreign aid" amounts to bribes to various governments to keep playing nice, not humanitarian work.

To re-rail the thread, I have some sources indicating that we may be adding Cameroon to the list of shit-hitting-fan countries in the next couple of days.

At this point, my previous comment about world war 3 is looking at least slightly less cynical. Gadafi was talking about cleansing Libya, being a martyr and taking his country with him.

You do realize that countries have committed actual genocide, and even gone to war with one another since WWII, right? A two bit dictator having his own city shelled? That's bizarre, but not remarkable.

[GlyphGryph]

Also, most "Foreign aid" amounts to bribes to various governments to keep playing nice, not humanitarian work.

Well, most of our Egyptian foreign aid was just to keep certain arms companies in business, wasn't it?

[Nadaka]

You do realize that countries have committed actual genocide, and even gone to war with one another since WWII, right? A two bit dictator having his own city shelled? That's bizarre, but not remarkable.

I know, during my lifetime there didn't seem to be nearly as much attention payed to it, nor for it to spread so rapidly over such a large area.

[RedKing]

It's a different world now. Used to be, Americans got their news in a one-hour TV block at dinnertime. Maybe got their detailed analysis a couple of days later in the newspaper.

Now, we have Twitter feeds giving us unfiltered information within seconds of an event occurring, anywhere on the planet in range of a satphone or a GSM tower.

[olemars]

Slight aside, but the saddest job in the world right now is to be the person on news channels who reads tweets and facebook posts out loud. Each channel seems to have a few people dedicated to this.