Another guest post from Ashley Mace:

As today is World Refugee Day, I logged onto my computer to find some uplifting statistics about the effects of our efforts to resettle victims of overseas conflict and oppression. The statistics on solely refugee aid seemed a bit inconsistent so I stuck with general foreign aid statistics. Laudatory claims that the U.S. is the leading donor of monetary assistance could be found on many websites, as we donate a whopping $12,900,000,000 to general foreign aid initiatives. We comprehensively blew other countries like Great Britain (we send $8 billion more) out of the water. The next closest donor gives $3.5 billion less.  I thought, “Way to go, America! You rock! What a great example of benevolence for the other stingy countries.”  And then reality struck… 

One web site I stumbled upon opened my eyes by putting this statistic into perspective. As you scroll down the page the U.S. drops to LAST PLACE in a comparison of ten internationally respected countries when the foreign aid is a function of our GDP (gross domestic product).

Norway, a country that certainly does not carry the international clout that we do, offers fully 6.5 times more than we do. An average citizen in Norway gives $390.39 annually while an average American gives $43.22. Who is the stingy country now?  

In this entry I don’t mean to confuse with statistics and lingo, but I want to highlight the fact that although we claim superpower status, our immense power has not been met with an equivalent generosity towards others. To me it seems absurd that we should give so little when we have been blessed with so much. No clear solution exists to rectify the situation but we could begin by urging our representatives to support expansion of our assistance. 

With great power comes great responsibility, and accordingly we need to be more responsive to the interests of other countries with much more immediate dangers than we experience here in America.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 9:34 am and is filed under Refugees. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.