Are we spending too much time and money on the worlds problems?

Question

And not our own?

Answer 1

damn straight! we have americans living on the streets with no food to eat. children still being sold into sexual slavery and education can always be improved upon. i think that its high time we get someone in office that will help improve our country instead of wasting precious tax money on this half a s sed war.

Answer 2

We are spending too much money CREATING problems in the world.

I'm frankly quite surprised, after 9/11, to see a question that naively assumes that we can ignore the rest of the world and take care of "our own."

The big issue, far outshadowing all other uses of funds at home OR abroad, is the 5 billion dollars per MONTH the US is spending in Iraq. The Christian Science Monitor quotes the Congressional Budget Office as estimating that "by 2010, war expenses might total $600 billion."

Let's compare that to aid to Israel, the #1 recipient of US foreign aid (and about 1/3 of ALL US foreign aid; source--Washington Report on Middle East Affairs): "For the fiscal year ending in September 30, 1997, the U.S. has given Israel $6.72 billion.... Since 1949 the U.S. has given Israel a total of $83.205 billion." This gigantic amount of aid is puny compared to the budgetary bleeding into Iraq.

So if you are going to start a dialog on US money spent around the world, it pretty much has to focus on Iraq.

Iraq has become a cesspool of terrorism, sectarian violence, and civil war since the US invaded. The George Bush Doctrine of "make preemptive strikes based on trumped-up 'intelligence;' go it alone; ignore the United Nations; pay attention to the misguided geopolitics of the neocons" has made the US a pariah around the world.

We have to start to get smart about how to use the great intellectual, humanitarian, and financial wealth of our great nation. We can do better. We need to get it right in the elections this fall and in 2008.

Answer 3

Yes!

The USA should stop meddling in other people's affairs; if the USA fully supported the United Nations and played an active part, instead of attempting to undermine it, and if the USA stopped feeling the need to "go it alone" like a cowboy with a big white hat, it could put its resources to good use.

It is astonishing the amount of poverty I see in the USA. Astonishing! Most USA citizens do not realize how bad it is, because you get used to it. But I can tell you, as a well-travelled man of the world, that it is really bad!

The amount of money wasted on wars and space exploration is not only disgusting, it is almost inhuman. My god, you could all be driving round in solid gold Cadillac's and lighting cigars with $100 bills if your government were not, effectively, shovelling your wealth onto a big bonfire.

Crazy!

Answer 4

Which problems are "the world's" and not our own? Aren't WE part of "the world"?

I understand the gist of your Q, though. You want to know if we have a proper balance between foreign and domestic affairs. I believe that the number one domestic issue is homeland security. Unfortunately, that need has taken us and our military overseas.

We wouldn't want to wait for them to come back to us again, would we?

Think of it as the national version of Maslov's Pyramid of needs. The foundation need is safety and security. You gotta have that long before you reach the pinnacle: self-actualization.

Answer 5

Yes! Definitely. We need to take care of ourself for a while. Spend the money to secure our border and deport all illegals found here. We have more than our fair share of problems. Yep, we need to clean our own house first.

Answer 6

Well, we're part of the world. That being said, I think we get too involved in the internal politics of other countries.

And whatever happened to good old-fashioned prayer to heal the world?

Answer 7

You know, i'm split on this.

I hate that we spend so much money on the world..

But..keep in mind, the world would be so f'ed up if we never stepped our foot in, in the past.

Look at WW2..

Answer 8

Yeah well the country is being run by a bunch of greedy fools so what can you expect?

Answer 9

well... some of the world's problems are our problems... like terrorism... but we need to focus on the terrorists that hit us... Osama and al-Queda... in Pakistan, Sudan, Indonesia...

they weren't in Iraq...

so now we're fighting in Iraq and can't even fight those that hit us...

Answer 10

To much money , not enough time .