Every year, the world struggles with miscellaneous problems. Whether the problems be economic, environmental, or personal, no country is without its struggles. Naturally, many feel compassion for the people who must deal with these issues and move to help in any way they can. This is obviously why we have so many charities in the world, but it is also the reason for the existence of the United States government’s foreign aid programs, namely the United States Agency for International Development. This is our government freely donating literally billions of dollars every year to troubled nations worldwide. It has been going on for about 50 years now and has escalated to about $50 billions donated total every year. At this point, nearly
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Foreign aid is clearly meant to help people who need it, and some good has come of it: Afghanistan, for example, has more streets, schools, electricity distribution, gains in education and health; all of these have things have improved from their original, extremely low state. However, the government has donated approximately $100,000,000,000 to Afghanistan, and these are just about the only good things we can note about Afghanistan (Brinkley 14). Even after more than ten years of aid, the nation hasn’t really improved. Afghanistan still “ranks near the bottom on per capita income, literacy, life expectancy, electricity usage, Internet penetration …” (Brinkley 14). Afghanistan is just one of many examples of how foreign aid fails miserably in almost every way. Aid often leads to more corruption, poverty, and contributes to aid dependency. It’s negative consequences outweigh its positive ones, especially in light of how much money is spent …show more content…
Every year, if the government spends more money than it acquires through taxes, it borrows money via treasury bonds. That money is considered a debt by the government. If that debt goes unpaid, it adds to the overall national deficit (debt). Currently, America is running with a deficit of close to $18,000,000,000,000, and is still rising; that is how much money the government owes to other people. At this point, the government is spending a ton of money that they don’t have. Foreign aid is an excessive donation that contributes to government spending and the increase of the government’s debt. This is made all the more frustrating by the fact that the aid doesn’t do all that much to accomplish its purpose to begin with. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about it for American citizens is the fact that the very act of government-issued foreign aid is unconstitutional: the Constitution clearly outlines how the federal government should be able to spend money, and there is no evidence in it that allows the government to do this. The government’s foreign should be cut; the money is all but being completely wasted, and charities are commonly more effective at helping others than the way the government handles things. I acknowledge that helping foreigners in need is absolutely a good thing, but I believe that it is not the federal government’s place to partake in it;
Foreign aid is clearly meant to help people who need it, and some good has come of it: Afghanistan, for example, has more streets, schools, electricity distribution, gains in education and health; all of these have things have improved from their original, extremely low state. However, the government has donated approximately $100,000,000,000 to Afghanistan, and these are just about the only good things we can note about Afghanistan (Brinkley 14). Even after more than ten years of aid, the nation hasn’t really improved. Afghanistan still “ranks near the bottom on per capita income, literacy, life expectancy, electricity usage, Internet penetration …” (Brinkley 14). Afghanistan is just one of many examples of how foreign aid fails miserably in almost every way. Aid often leads to more corruption, poverty, and contributes to aid dependency. It’s negative consequences outweigh its positive ones, especially in light of how much money is spent …show more content…
Every year, if the government spends more money than it acquires through taxes, it borrows money via treasury bonds. That money is considered a debt by the government. If that debt goes unpaid, it adds to the overall national deficit (debt). Currently, America is running with a deficit of close to $18,000,000,000,000, and is still rising; that is how much money the government owes to other people. At this point, the government is spending a ton of money that they don’t have. Foreign aid is an excessive donation that contributes to government spending and the increase of the government’s debt. This is made all the more frustrating by the fact that the aid doesn’t do all that much to accomplish its purpose to begin with. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about it for American citizens is the fact that the very act of government-issued foreign aid is unconstitutional: the Constitution clearly outlines how the federal government should be able to spend money, and there is no evidence in it that allows the government to do this. The government’s foreign should be cut; the money is all but being completely wasted, and charities are commonly more effective at helping others than the way the government handles things. I acknowledge that helping foreigners in need is absolutely a good thing, but I believe that it is not the federal government’s place to partake in it;