FOREIGN AID :-
I have a suggestion with regard to providing millions of Pounds or Dollars of tax payer's money in Foreign Aid to countries in the less developed parts of the world. Usually these countries tend to be in Africa, although there are others on other continents.
First of all, DO NOT pay this aid into a country's bank account. More often than not unscrupulous leaders will not ensure that this financial aid goes towards the benefit of their own citizens. It often ends up in personnel bank accounts of the front line politicians.
If a Western country wishes to provide aid such that the citizens themselves will benefit, I would suggest the following ....
If the USA or the UK wished to allocate financial aid to 3rd. world countries, then send informed individuals to such a country and determine what that country needs that will benefit its citizens, preferably, directly.
That could be a railway line, or a road highway, or a housing development, or several hospitals, or several schools, or an industrial park, or whatever.
Once that need is identified then the donor country should put that project out to tender, either locally in its own country, i.e. the USA, UK, etc.., or Internationally.
In that way it will be inviting large Consulting and Contracting companies to tender, competitively, to design and build what is needed.
Once the successful tenderer has been chosen they will then be paid from those Foreign Aid funds that have been set aside for such a purpose. In addition, the country that provided the funds will supervise and monitor the project to ensure that fair value is obtained.
Doing it that way will ensure that the citizens of the country will BENEFIT DIRECTLY FROM THAT FOREIGN AID. And it will also ensure that the Foreign Aid gets well spent and does not end up in Swiss Bank accounts, or the like.
REFUGEES :-
It is indeed extremely sad and heart wrenching to see these crowded vessels heading for European ports as the occupants either flee from brutal governments or go in search of better lives in better developed parts of the world.
HOWEVER, THE LONG TERM SOLUTION FOR THIS PROBLEM IS NOT THE CONTINUING BOAT LOADS OF REFUGEES CROSSING OVER FROM NORTH AFRICA TO EUROPE, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT FILLED WITH INDIVIDUALS WHO GENERALLY HAVE LITTLE, OR NO, SKILL TO OFFER THE HOST COUNTRY.
The Long Term Solution rests with improving the living and working conditions within the countries from where these poor folk are fleeing.
More needs to be done by the citizens of their own countries to install a government that will work diligently and honestly for the benefit of the electorate that installed them, AND NOT FOR THEIR OWN PERSONAL, FINANCIAL GAIN.
And the citizens must take scrupulous note of what those political candidates state AND PROMISE in their Manifestos prior to election.
And those same citizens must be prepared to take those candidates to task if they do not do what they have promised.
And that may require the citizens to demonstrate and do whatever is necessary to remove any UNSCRUPULOUS politician who betrays those citizens.
And that may, unfortunately, require loss of life in that pursuit of their country to be governed according to the best interests of its citizens.
And if that sounds harsh, or unlikely to occur, let me remind those citizens what the citizens of France, or Poland, or Holland, or Belgium, etc.., were prepared to do in the period between 1939 and 1945 when those countries were under the heel of a foreign power.
IF SOMETHING OF REAL VALUE IS WORTH HAVING, THEN IT IS MOST CERTAINLY WORTH WORKING HARD FOR, AND EVEN DYING FOR.
A fellow African said at his trial in Pretoria, South Africa, on the 20th. April 1964, ....
"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal FOR WHICH I AM PREPARED TO DIE."
So, the future prosperity and development of ANY COUNTRY rests with its citizens.
It is up to them to decide how they wish to live in their own country, how they wish to be governed, who they wish to be governed by, what life style they wish to have, and many other aspects.
Their future should not be the responsibility of other countries. Nor should other countries have to carry the burden of an influx of many hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals.
Yes, they must be saved from sinking vessels.
Yes, they must be temporarily fed and clothed.
Yes, the sick must be humanely treated.
BUT EVENTUALLY they must be sent back from whence they came and they must sort out their own problems in their own country. That should not be the responsibility of foreign nations.
If they want to improve the living and working conditions in their country then I refer them to my comments in "FOREIGN AID" above. |
