The U.S. Should not send money to other countries. amirite?

All countries (including America) don't give aid out of the kindness of their heart. They give aid because it benefits them. They aren't helping poor people, they are insuring the resources needed to maintain stability and resources. A billion dollar aid program is cheap compared to military action.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

This, can't believe that OP did not pick this up. America is greasing the palms of the world to build goodwill for strategic purposes rather than do actual good

by valerie82 1 month ago

Oh yes, most of the 'aid' is embezzled by leaders and very little ends up in the hands of the most needy

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Most of the money is used as bribes, to lower local regulations on imports/exports, minimum pay for employees, safety regulation, etc. If they do not take the money, then there is a coup. Its literally just like the mob operates. Also gives access to having American military basis on their land.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Source?

by Anonymous 1 month ago

...as if embezzlement is going to show up in academic journals lmao

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Yeah sadly it's not an either / or situation. No money for homelessness because we can t afford it? Then banks and auto industry needs bailout to the tune of several times that amount? Money miraculously appears. Suddenly need to fight wars to the tune of literally trillions of dollars? Suddenly the money appears. No foreign aid? Helping the homeless will still be as "unaffordable" as ever. Wars and bailouts and foreign aid benefit specials interests and the wealthy. Helping the homeless does not so there will never be any money for it.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

In the medical research field we call those "orphan diseases" - not enough people have the disease and/or the research to develop a drug would not be profitable.

by Jealous_Ganache_9078 1 month ago

I'm not American, but it only took a few seconds to google to see that less than 1% of the US Government's entire budget is spent on foreign aid. It's unlikely that amount of money is going to assist Americans if the 99% didn't.

by wvonrueden 1 month ago

And it's a stark contrast to the % other countries do give. People hate giving money to anyone. The excuse is people here are needy and yet, that money is also demonized.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Yeah this is the dumbest thing I've read all year

by Anonymous 1 month ago

The funny thing is that OP likely doesn't support social assistance programs for said homeless and poor people, because communism. There's a serious problem in our country and it's lack of education as op clearly demonstrates.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

I literally said we should take care of homeless people by spending money on them instead of foreign wars... Reading comprehension isn't your strong suit is it?

by Hayesjoanne 1 month ago

Saying while knowing it will never happen doesnt make you a hero. Its not a spend it on thi or siruation and you know it. Last time i checked homeless people couldnt eat surplus military equipment. And besides that there are diplomatic reasons and alliances that benefit the US indirectly they aint just doing it to be kind.

by Johathanwolff 1 month ago

What about advocating for something realistic? Maybe a homeless tax if it's such an important issue to you?

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Do you think we don't spend tons of money on the homeless?

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Take a look in a mirror 😂

by Anonymous 1 month ago

waaaaaa waaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaa grow up

by Krystal69 1 month ago

What's more important, sending money to other countries or taking care of our citizens?

by Anonymous 1 month ago

If you don't support other countries when they need it then they won't support you when you need it. You also aren't giving the money away for "free". That country now owes you a favour after you have helped them. Nothing is for free especially in politics. You are essentially buying political favours for later on.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

How many countries has the US helped that have paid them back?

by Anonymous 1 month ago

The reason America sends Israel so much money per year is because they're obligated to only spend that money on American weapons. America and Saudi Arabia have a security/oil deal

by Anonymous 1 month ago

An arbitrary border is meaningless to me.

by AffectionateTree9107 1 month ago

That's a narrow-minded take. You personally can't oversee the consequences, which doesn't mean they don't exist.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

It doesn't matter, we weren't going to spend it on our citizens.

by Bennie23 1 month ago

With great power comes great responsibility. Also, do you think the US doesn't get any sort of kickback by aiding foreign nations? Long story short, it's how American maintain its global influence and dominance. Sitting on the sidelines of world affairs would be the equivalent of abdicating its status as the world's sole superpower. And if America abdicates that role, another nation will fill that void of dominance and influence. Would you rather it be China?

by bartolettiolin 1 month ago

All that said, America still remains the defacto "king of the hill" until someone can wrestle it away. The American military and economy continue to reign supreme. You are absolutely right that America has a lot of issues it needs fixing at home, but maintaining its strong global presence is what allows America to shape the world into an environment that favors them. The world is smaller and more interconnected than ever, isolating oneself will result in a weaker economy, greater security risks, and stunted development. At the end of the day there are are two options. A world led by the US which benefits the US, or a world ran by another country which hampers the US.

by bartolettiolin 1 month ago

Naw. The world can survive without our money.

by Relative-Vacation 1 month ago

You are looking at the situation far too simplistically. America doesn't give aid out if the kindness of their heart. They do so to ensure and bolster their own global and regional strength.

by bartolettiolin 1 month ago

And we are fine without it. Same as every other country doesn't need to have their hand on the world scale.

by Relative-Vacation 1 month ago

K. It's time to step aside.

by Relative-Vacation 1 month ago

Like Ukraine?

by Bennie23 1 month ago

Also against funding ukraines existence.

by Relative-Vacation 1 month ago

Oh, wow, man, thank you. Let's just erase other people, who cares, right?

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Not supporting people who basically are getting erased is erasure as well. You do understand that it's done not just out of the kindness of the heart, right?

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Why lie in the first place then?

by Bennie23 1 month ago

What are you talking about?

by Relative-Vacation 1 month ago

Let me spell it out. You acknowledge that Ukraine, which is part of the world, probably won't survive without outside assistance. Then you say you don't care which makes the original opinion irrelevant because what could be the point of mentioning it if you don't think it's important?

by Bennie23 1 month ago

The ukraine is part of the world, but it isn't the world. The world is all countries collectively. The world will be fine if Russia takes east Ukraine, Kiev, or all of it. The world will go on.

by Relative-Vacation 1 month ago

Ah so as long as some part of the world is unaffected it will be fine. Unfortunately daddy Putin can't really play with the big boys and you aren't going to like it when the US and China start their expansion. At least Paraguay will be fine.

by Bennie23 1 month ago

In today's episode of I Have the Geopolitical Understanding of a Toddler:

by boscomarcella 1 month ago

It's interesting how people who point out homelessness, education issues and healthcare costs when aid is sent to to other countries are also the same people who advocate against helping the homeless, against funding the education system, and against universal healthcare.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

This depends on where you draw the boundaries of your house. It's an age old question: when someone says "we," just who are they talking about?

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Foreign aid is in USA interest. You think your peaceful sky costs nothing?

by Anonymous 1 month ago

US foreign policy has directly contributed to global conflicts, and neglecting international responsibilities could backfire on its security and economy.

by Big_Photograph9135 1 month ago

The foreign policy and aid has also prevented global conflicts as well as local conflicts escalating into larger regional conflicts.

by Laney80 1 month ago

I bet OP flinches at homeless people on the street

by Anonymous 1 month ago

That's a given

by Anonymous 1 month ago

They're more against taking care of our own. The oil and weapons deals are A-OK to spend money on.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Why wouldn't they? They are against helping Americans at home. Not against providing aid to our allies, especially israel.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

With what money, we are borrowing money to give it away to other countries as it is. We are trillions of debt with no end in sight. It coatings us billions in interest to give away money. We do not have any plus we have to support the millions of illegals that have come in to the US

by Anonymous 1 month ago

The republicans and the democrats are pretty much the same party. They get money from pretty much the same donors, eat at the same fancy restaurants, pass similar legislation and conveniently give each other cover on many issues. They laugh when they have us sheep really thinking there are two different parties.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Oh dear god.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Dumb, dumb, dumb...

by Anonymous 1 month ago

People against foreign aid think we spend more than we actually do. Eliminating foreign aid wouldn't do that much to address the homeless problem. Cutting defense spending is the way

by Brilliant-Trust8107 1 month ago

For simplistic minds think of this way: the US is deeply unpopular around the world so buying friends is a good idea.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Any 3rd world citizen would be happy to become a citizen of any western country. They want security and privelege, not meaningless citzenship

by OilWide 1 month ago

I don't know anyone in Europe who wants to become an American citizen

by Effective_Law_6735 1 month ago

Same in reverse homie, you'll love us in ww3 though.

by rico11 1 month ago

Have you asked anyone over there 😉 I met a few that took jobs in America because the earnings potential is way higher in America. I know lots of my fellow Canadians that moved down south and love it 😀 they make way more money than they could in Canada

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Wanting to be a citizenship and milking some American company for a few years is so different.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Wow bro. Are you like 14 yo ?

by Anonymous 1 month ago

You..... really think that immigrants chose the US because they LOVE the US? LOL

by Atowne 1 month ago

Go to Vietnam and ask how they feel about our freedom

by Anonymous 1 month ago

FMFAO, I guess all those Vietnamese people that immigrated to America over the decades did so because they hate it. Also, the ones on the waiting list to come over must despise America in your mind. You guys are hilarious 😂 believing because a government hates America. That the citizens of that country most also hate it 🤣 and never want to live in America

by Anonymous 1 month ago

You mean after the US dropped 7.5 million tons of explosives on Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, millions of civilians tried to escape those countries? Not exactly surprising.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

The USA isn't altruistic, they do that because it benefits them.

by Icy_Acadia 1 month ago

Bad take. Ignorant.

by hschaden 1 month ago

You may be confusing niceness with geopolitics.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

you are a truly ignorant person

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Well it is far more complicated than that......

by Only-Telephone 1 month ago

All the money the US is sending to Ukraine has to do with preventing WW3. How people can be so petty, and narrow-minded they don't understand this is astonishing to me. It's just childish.

by Awilderman 1 month ago

My ethnic siblings got their own country and hepled them during the war. So the US should send money FOR GOOD things.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

The rest of the world would be much better off. The USA is not being nice, they are flexing soft power. It is a tool of control.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

tbh you could cut 10% of the US military budget and do alot of good things. Giving Aid to other countries has political reasons.

by No-Airport 1 month ago

Umm economic politics disagrees. By giving money to other countries, you in return will benefit from it. For example, the US gives a lot of money to Saudi. Not because they agree with Saudi or support Saudi but because Saudi has something the US doesn't. Oil. They supply weapons and money to Saudi so Saudi don't cut off their oil supply.

by Margehuels 1 month ago

This is a fairly gross misunderstanding of what foreign aid actually is.

by Vthiel 1 month ago

It's not even our money to send, it's chinas

by Medical_Ground 1 month ago

Being the world hegemon comes with financial expectations.

by Personal_Alfalfa_592 1 month ago

Checkbook diplomacy is our best and most efficient way to influence events in our favor and should continue.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

We received aid from other countries, our money is not our own, we owe everyone. America was funded as the world's insurance policy. We're shackled.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

It's only to ensure further dominance (and therefore the most resources for the citizens, not directly but still). It does sow discord and leads to deaths of the "natives" in the countries where the U.S. regulates conflicts but the ultimate goal is the U.S. benefit.

by TeaCommon 1 month ago

OP, if you can figure out a way to make the ruling class even wealthier by helping out the homeless then they will listen. Until then it is not happening. Also, its incredibly think countries give money to other countries out of kindness, its for influence.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

The USA could fix (or at least try) if it wanted to but those in charge, and most Americans I see online, have no desire to help their own poor at home.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

No one sends money for charity, it is to protect their interest

by Anonymous 1 month ago

The U.S. and the rest of the west should be sending a lot more money to the countries that they steal and destroy all their natural resources and for the human suffering they create

by Secure-Being 1 month ago

Tjey are not swnding money to other countries, they are laundring money.

by Content_Square_8738 1 month ago

Historically I'm not sure this is unpopular. It's been an ongoing facet of British foreign policy to try and keep the US engaged in external world affairs for most of the last 150 years. Like the British doctrine of "splendid isolation" in the long 19th C, the US is big enough and could be self-contained enough it doesn't need to worry about the rest of the world in theory.

by Massive-Web 1 month ago

We give way too much money to other countries. Zelensky took priority over the people of Maui.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Most of the 'money' isn't actual money. What they are doing is sending aging military supplies which allows the US to produce more equipment, much of it made in the US, increasing economic activity and employment in the US.

by wvonrueden 1 month ago

We couldn't let Russia take over Ukraine. That would be very similar to how WW2 started

by Brilliant-Trust8107 1 month ago

I don't think the people of maui need old anti tank launchers from the 80s

by Anonymous 1 month ago

You honestly want Russia to win?

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Agreed. Other countries should take out debt themselves instead of the US paying for it

by Anonymous 1 month ago

That's a popular opinion, just not with the people who make the choices.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Apparently you don't know what allies are… should look into it since we are like one of the most hated countries out there and we're soooooo far in debt to others.

by CryptographerOdd 1 month ago

We really should be prioritizing ourself for a solid decade or so before helping with world issues

by Anonymous 1 month ago

It's like all that money that's being sent to Ukraine is going to get repaid one way or another, it was the poorest country in Europe before the war now it's going to be pillaged for whatever resources it has left by which ever conglomerate wins

by ImpressiveAside 1 month ago

I am not against sending aid, but I am entirely against having any foreign lobbying whatsoever. all diplomatic efforts should take place exclusively between embassies and any america politician who is found receiving money from foreigners and acting in their interest should be tried for treason.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Certainly not for "humanitarian" military aid.

by No_Flatworm 1 month ago

This isn't unpopular. Politicians are the only ones who believe we should fund these ppl.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

The US should not send other countries money for war. FTFY

by Anonymous 1 month ago

Not so unpopular. I hated the way we took history in school and since World War I we were supposed to be against "isolationism". We used to really think Germany or Russia would invade us?

by Pinkie35 1 month ago

It's also about soft power which is one of the most cost effective tools in international diplomacy. Google China's belt and road, or what's happening in the Solomon Islands if you want to see effective soft power at work.

by wvonrueden 1 month ago

Excellent point!

by Pokuneva 1 month ago

funny how you think people somewhere else aren't lazy.

by Anonymous 1 month ago

💯

by Anonymous 1 month ago

How many people do you think are lazy because we don't even have jobs available for them to get

by Anonymous 1 month ago

I wonder about this. I'm not American, never been there sadly but I see a country with massive homelessness problems, millions living without health insurance, higher education costing obscene amounts of money etc etc ..... yet Congress has just agreed $61 BILLION to Ukraine??? Can someone explain this to me?

by clint62 1 month ago

61 billion in form of military contracts, the money is ultimately still being spent in the US

by veronica04 1 month ago

I'm guessing most if not all of that $61 billion is the dollar value of the weapons we're sending them.

by Anonymous 1 month ago