Quote: "We cannot even start to grasp their situation, but all I know is that if they could change it, they would. They aren't, as you say, all passive. Heck, I thing that there are people among them that, given an education, would most likely be able to outsmart us. That if they would've been born here, they'd say exactly what you say. Simply because we cannot put ourselves in their shoes - we keep assuming we'd be the same person there. We wouldn't be."
Who you are is often based on your experiences and up-bringing; and every situation is relative to what you know.
I know a few from these counteries who've basically pushed themselves and then migrated to somewhere else; there are others who do try to improve the quality of life where the are.
Thing is though all of these agencies providing money and food for the nations don't target these people who are responsible and could put it to good use but instead entrust it to either an agency who just wants to keep "helping" in a way that forced dependance; or to a government that is corrupt in nature.
In any sense, I'm still standing by my original point of why the hell should we solve problems of nations ahead of our own?
Quote: "A homeless person in your country is 1000 times richer than the average family in some African countries. You can't compare the two."
In a literal sense, perhaps. However in a relative sense I really don't think so; in-fact the systems we have in place in this country seem designed that if you fail to the point of destitution then the system just forgets about you.
A good example, when I was homeless my waiting time for a council flat was estimated at 3months; they offered me a temporary accomidation which I had to pay for myself (being broke and homeless is impossible).
Yet a soon-to-be-mother friend of mine (by soon I mean she was only 2 weeks in) was given a council flat in less than a week .. she was living with her mother and was allowed to stay there with her mother getting extra benefits until she finally gave birth.
Alright so they don't have a welfare system in Africa (let's use Nigera as an example), however they also do not have land ownership and taxation in the same way we do.
If you want to build a home, you can just pick some land and build.
Simple as that. No one there is homeless unless they choose to be such.. yet here, it is possible to be homeless.
Same goes for food, we if we're made homeless must scavenge and hope that the system can provide us with money; which btw you're not entitled to unless you have somewhere to live. Where-as in Nigera you have more oppurtunity to work without a fixed abode, employeers will pay you in food rather than money; and also it is common practise for them to offer to allow you to live on premesis.
You also have the option to be able to use the hand-outs from Red Cross to try to farm; or just simply have a meal. Alright so maybe that'll end up being one small meal a day. Compare that to here where the Salvation Army and other charities only provide board and a single small meal once every 2-3days.
Seriously the poverty stricken homeless in our so-called Civilised societies are realistically worse off than someone in a 3rd world country. I seriously wouldn't believe the television adverts about children starving, and going without "clean" water never knowing where the next meal will come from.
At this point our aid means they have a better quality of life than anyone in the same position here; but that isn't enough for all of these agencies they always want more. While ignoring the fact we have some truely needy people here as well.
What's more is if we stopped sodding interfering in the countries affairs, then they might have a chance to learn to stand on their own two feet again.
Africans have survived on that continent for several thousand if not million years longer than we have even had a society. Yet all of a sudden within this century their lives need our help to improve?
