Giving Away Foreign Aid to Africa is a Good Idea

I have to say, this is the best debate I have been in to date. "Theres no reason why aid to Africa throws off U. S. isolationism. This was out the window as of World War 1, the US gets involved in other places. It is what it is. Whether we let the people of Africa die or not, the US will have influence around the entire world. However, aid to Africa actually benefits everyday citizens. The US is the world hegemon and tells the world what to do. When the US gets involved in humanitarian efforts, our image is made better. The terrorist problems going on in the middle east is because of hate of Americans due to our hegemony. When we increase our soft power with these humanitarian efforts we halt the chance of another terrorist attack on American soil because of the newly converted African terrorists. This is a definite issue, terrorist organizations are already recruiting in Africa. Not only this, but we have to have influence in the region being that China could easily control most of Africa in the not too far off future. Aid to Africa needs to be done and a foreign policy budget is inevitable. " Here is an excerpt from George Washington's farewell address: "Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing, with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that it must pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that character; that, by such acceptance, it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion, which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard. " . http://en.wikisource.org... This is the disaster that is waiting to happen with Africa. We are sending them money, and people, and food, and countless other items, but it's all going to blow up in our faces. Washington warned us of this. We should have listened to him. And what, exactly, makes a foreign policy budget inevitable? "Even if you believe you won the argument saying food becomes useless, at least there is the crop for the farmer and his family to eat. The bottom line is that without taking away disease they will never be able to farm for themselves. In the world that we give no aid at all they will still die of disease and starve to death because theres no food on the market. At least with this directed aid we are able to allow them to survive on their own. " Subsistence farming? Well, that means that the farmer will slowly spiral into debt, and contributes nothing to society. And someone who never contributes to society doesn't deserve anything from society. "You have no warrant to make this claim. " Here are my warrants: . http://www.philforhumanity.com... . http://www.globalsecurity.org... . http://www.kuro5hin.org... They are the UN failures. The UN is a failure. "You miss the point. The point is that the use of aid is the only way to win the hearts of the African people, thus win rights to their oil. Meaning aid is a good idea because it leads to oil in the future. " Then we aren't really giving away aid; we're in a bidding war with other countries over their oil. "Building a house with your own two hands isnt monetary aid that the government can horde. Neither is paying an individual teacher to teach children in Africa. The government isnt going to horde a bunch of condoms and even if they do, the high government officials are bound to use them. At least AIDs wont spread in the government. haha. Building a family planning center with American workers cant be taken by the government. When we pass out ITNS (insecticide treated nets) to African people, it gets to them and this is empirically proven. By providing the individuals in Africa we get away from their dependence for water on the government. The government cant seize a well that Americans built. This well is forever there and a source of water for a long time. All of these methods can work. Even if 1 can work i have proven that sometimes aid can be good, this is all that matters. " So, we're helping them get water so that they don't have to rely on their own government for water? Brilliant. Instead of relying on their incompetent government, they rely on us, and then their governments get even more incompetent. "Not if we used the voucher system. An ITN would be an insecticide treated net that they put over their beds at night so mosquitos cant get to them. The voucher system would ensure the bednets are still made in africa and there is no dependence at all. " However, I don't know what the voucher system is. I ask again, what in the world is it? "That would be like the resolution says 'helping children is a good thing' and you arguing 'giving kids weed to smoke isnt good, therefore i have proven 1 way that helping children is not good so i win'. " Well, that's how the "Breathing is Good for You" and "Poison is Bad for You" debates ended.