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"The unfortunate truth is that most money that goes into charities that operate in 3rd world countries gets spent on logistics, bureaucracy, and gets siphoned o
by LeeHunter 13y ago
"The unfortunate truth is that most money that goes into charities that operate in 3rd world countries gets spent on logistics, bureaucracy, and gets siphoned off by corrupt governments or stolen by thieves. He'll save someone from malaria one day, and they'll die from another cause later."
Self-serving selfish unsupported claptrap.
I especially like the line "He'll save someone from malaria one day, and they'll die from another cause later." Hard to argue with that point since we'll all die from some cause later.
As if, for example, funding the inexpensive operations to relieve the suffering of women with untreated obstetric fistulas (http://www.fistulafoundation.org/whatisfistula/faqs.html http://www.fistulafoundation.org/whatisfistula/faqs.html) is just a waste of time and money. Sheesh.
- Mikeb85 13y agoHow much time do you spend in 3rd world countries? My wife is from one, we spend a month a year over there... They were a recipient of the one laptop per child initiative - most of the laptops were stolen and placed on the black market. Corruption runs so deep that most foreign aid has been withdrawn, and foreign corporations refuse to use local labour in local construction initiatives. Giving away mosquito nets is a great initiative. Producing the sort of infrastructure that allows people to buy them with their own money is better. The Chinese have done more for the 3rd world (any my wife's country) than every Western charity and government combined. You go to my wife's country - all the local infrastructure is built by Chinese corporations, and most of the cost is donated by the Chinese government. What little debt remains to China is forgiven periodically (China just wrote-off 355 million in debt to this country). If you eliminated corruption, it would be even more effective, these Chinese corporations would be more willing to use local labour... By the way, even the link you provided cites poverty and malnutrition as the main cause of fistula. Do you want to treat diseases or prevent them as well as raise the economic status of those in need?
- LeeHunter 13y agoAnecdotes are not data.
- Mikeb85 13y agoNo, they're not. Alot of data is flawed though, based on assumptions that usually aren't true... Go on the ground yourself and see what makes a difference though. You can't sit on your computer in a 1st world country and think you know what happens in the 3rd world...
- LeeHunter 13y agoI spent a year living in a third world country but somehow it failed to make me an expert on international aid and development.
- dnautics 13y agothat's actually incorrect. The correct quote is "the plural of anecdote is data". http://blog.revolutionanalytics.com/2011/04/the-plural-of-anecdote-is-data-after-all.html http://blog.revolutionanalytics.com/2011/04/the-plural-of-an... I take the opposite view of this statistician, because it reminds us that NO data are free of some level of collection bias. Keep in mind I'm an experimentalist, and not a data analyst.
- justin66 13y ago> The Chinese have done more for the 3rd world (any my wife's country) than every Western charity and government combined. You go to my wife's country A quick perusal of the link below and some of the associated material shows how what you're saying here regarding the wonderfulness and light coming from China is ridiculous: http://www.cfr.org/china/expanding-china-africa-oil-ties/p9557 http://www.cfr.org/china/expanding-china-africa-oil-ties/p95... > What little debt remains to China is forgiven periodically (China just wrote-off 355 million in debt to this country). Ah, yes, debt forgiveness. Always a sign that benevolent and highly effective foreign intervention is in progress.