February 20, 200917 yr This one just needs a quick reply (IMO) What made this country great? A peoples reliance on God and His Son Jesus Christ!
February 20, 200917 yr As far as a percentage of GDP we are not anywhere near as compassionate as other developed countries in our giving to others. Do you have a link for this information?
February 20, 200917 yr As far as a percentage of GDP we are not anywhere near as compassionate as other developed countries in our giving to others. It is amazing to me that the biggest proponents of the separation of church and state are also the ones desiring to legislate their version of morality by espousing the redistribution of wealth. You cannot find anywhere in the official writings of the founders that they believed it is the federal government's job to legislate charity. I do not believe it is government's job today.
February 20, 200917 yr Author As far as a percentage of GDP we are not anywhere near as compassionate as other developed countries in our giving to others.Nor should we be. What countries are you talking about, out of curiosity?
February 20, 200917 yr As far as a percentage of GDP we are not anywhere near as compassionate as other developed countries in our giving to others. acemona, We have been over this before. I have told you that, in the United States, private donations, far, far outweigh government donations. See Figure 1- in the United States, private philanthropy is twice the percentage (more than twice the nominal amount) of any other country's. However, in the name of helping the poor, you insist that we should give more money to our government which has proven time and time again to NOT give to the poor nearly as much. (see USA’s aid, in terms of percentage of their GNP has almost always been lower than any other industrialized nation in the world, though paradoxically since 2000, their dollar amount has been the highest. (Only since 2004 have they move up from last place, by just one or two places.) For some reason, you insist on us building a big government that has proven to not care about the poor. It reminds me of Wood's Law: "Whenever the private sector introduces an innovation that makes the poor better off than they would have been without it, or that offers benefits or terms that no one else is prepared to offer them, someone—in the name of helping the poor—will call for curbing or abolishing it." Similarly, no matter how much private individuals help the poor, you find it unacceptable and demand that the government, which cares for nothing more than getting re-elected, get the money. Edited February 20, 200917 yr by cch5432
February 20, 200917 yr acemona, since we are talking about your idea that this country is greedy, here is another post (from 9-28-2008) that you ignored: You really think we are greedy compared to the rest of the world? See here - For example, U.S. foundations gave more -- in money, time, goods and expertise -- than 11 of the 22 developed-country governments each gave in 2005, and U.S. private voluntary organizations totaled more than the governments of Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and France each. -U.S. official development assistance (ODA) in 2005 was $28 billion, the largest of all official donations by an individual country. But, according to the often-quoted measure used by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which compares government aid as a percentage of a country’s gross national income (GNI), U.S. government aid is only 0.22 percent of GNI, which ranks the United States as the 20th of the 22 listed donor states. The United States government is ranked 20th out of 22nd in terms of how much it gives (as a percentage of GNI) Yet, the private contributions of our people ranks us above total contributions from most of the world's major countries. However, you want to give money to our government, which has proven itself stingy in terms of helping the cause of eliminating global poverty. Why don't you leave the money in the hands of American citizens, who have already done far more to aid the poor of the world then our government has?
February 20, 200917 yr Absolute power corrupts absolutely. That is what our government is becoming, ... all powerful. Nice clip.
February 20, 200917 yr acemona, since we are talking about your idea that this country is greedy, here is another post (from 9-28-2008) that you ignored: I was responding to the quote in an above post that said "I really think this country is the most compassionate toward others as compared to other countries as well" by RTS Thank you guys for supporting my point with your links.:thumb:
February 20, 200917 yr I was responding to the quote in an above post that said "I really think this country is the most compassionate toward others as compared to other countries as well" by RTS Thank you guys for supporting my point with your links.:thumb: I did not support your point that said "As far as a percentage of GDP we are not anywhere near as compassionate as other developed countries in our giving to others. " If you had said "As far as a percentage of GDP OUR GOVERNMENT is not anywhere near as compassionate as other developed countries in our giving to others," then I would agree with you. However, as I said, private donations in the United States are more than those of Japan, Germany, France, and the U.K. American INDIVIDUALS, not government, are the most generous people in the world. So I assume that you would agree with me that, in the attempt to help the poor, it is best to keep money away from the government?
February 21, 200917 yr Giving people money over and over is not compassion. IMO it is enslavement. It makes people dependent on the government. Is it more compassionate to give a man a fish or teach him to fish. Or, in some cases, force him to fish for himself.
February 21, 200917 yr Giving people money over and over is not compassion. IMO it is enslavement. It makes people dependent on the government. Is it more compassionate to give a man a fish or teach him to fish. Or, in some cases, force him to fish for himself. Yep, sending AIDS vaccine and mosquito nets are the first step toward enlsavement Who will step up as the first abolitionist to get us to quit digging wells in Zambia or helping build Maternity wards for women in an impoverished community?
February 21, 200917 yr Yep, sending AIDS vaccine and mosquito nets are the first step toward enlsavement Who will step up as the first abolitionist to get us to quit digging wells in Zambia or helping build Maternity wards for women in an impoverished community? I will if you want.
February 21, 200917 yr Author I was responding to the quote in an above post that said "I really think this country is the most compassionate toward others as compared to other countries as well" by RTS Thank you guys for supporting my point with your links.:thumb: You still haven't answered my question and this country isn't just government, cch5432 pointed out how giving we are as a society. Thank God we do it the right way.
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