*Continuation of our Blog: This disaster consist of massive floods in Australia. Which thus far has flooded over 12,000 homes and left 17 dead. The cost of this disaster is over 3 billion.
Could the Australian government be more involved? Do you believe this disaster is the cause of global warming?
*blog continuation U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said that the U.S.is ready to assist Australia. Do you think that the U.S. should provide assistance to Australia, if so why or why not?
As bad as this sounds, I do not think that the U.S. should provide assistance to Australia. Yes, this flood is a horrible natural disaster that is very upsetting, but Australia's government needs to get more involved and take control of this one. The U.S. is in enough debt as it is that we cannot afford to help out with this flood. Just like the blog commented, it is very fortunate that not as many Australians have been killed as other disasters such as the floods in Pakistan. As much as we want to help all the other countries, the U.S. needs to help themselves before they can continue trying to fix everyone else's problems.
I have to agree with Jessica. The US is can't keep acting like everyone's big brother. We have our own economic problems, and military problems that we need to focus on. We keep helping people so they expect that we will keep on doing so however we need to stop for once and just let others deal with their own problems. Sure we can give out a little aid, but this can't turn into another haiti or earthquake crisis where we are providing more help to countries than they are to themselves.
I think if we do get involved with the situation in Australia it will be for economic reasons, considering the global cotton and steel markets are being greatly impacted by this. in 2008 we spent 49.5 billion dollars on cotton apparel, if thats not financial incentive i don't know what is.
I think whats more troubling about this article is the flooding in pakistan. i'm no foreign policy expert and i'm not really sure what our political relationship with pakistan is but the descriptions of the displaced people there are just gross. we have our domestic problems, and plenty of them, but isn't philanthropy part of the american spirit? $16.36 per person affected in pakistan is not enough to really do anything.
I think you have to look at the Australia flood in two ways. Yes we have economic ties to Austrailia and it will cost a ton of money in the cotton and steel markets, but at the same time do we really have money to for the flood relief? We are already 6 trillion dollars in debt, and Australia has there own money to take care of this disater themselves. When the US has a natural diaster in our country we take care of it ourselves, other countries need to start doing the same.
Also, i agree with Jake, I honestly have no idea what our foreign policy is with Pakistan, but its situations like this that we should be helping. My heart breaks for them living on the streets becuase they have no where to live and no one seems to be helping them. With there failing government should be sign that someone needs to step in and help them a lending hand.
Economically, we should NOT help Australia. We have ties to them, but these ties are not equal in worth to the money it will take to aid these people. That being said, I expect we will help.
blog continuation It seems that we have different opinions in regards to whether U.S. government should financially assist Pakistan to cope with the country’s catastrophes. However, data has shown that $388.33 was received by each person affected during Pakistan earthquake in 2005, which is a huge difference as compared to the 2010 floods, $16.36 per person affected. Why do you think the amount of donations and attentions received by Pakistan have shrunk from the international community? Is it because Pakistan is an Islamic country and the victims are Muslim? Is it donor exhaustion? Donor lose faith to the way Pakistan government handle the funds?
I do not think that the U.S. should fully support the flooding in Australia, but I do not think it would hurt if we helped in some way. Yes we are in debt, but not helping Australia will not reduce our enormous level of debt.
In response to the questions, I do not know how strong the Australian government is but along with the military, they should fully be helping their fellow countryman.
When asked the question should we get involved I have to say we shouldn't. I believe that Australia's government is not involed enough in plans for evacuation and stop the spreading of the floods from destroying other parts of Australia. This event reminds of Hurricane Katrina in which there were rumors that the government knew of how bad this storm was going to hit however the government did not push any harder with evacutation plans. I believe the same thing might be happening in Australia also. Although we do have ties with Australia like Amber said, I still believe that it is their responsibility to get out of this situation that is taking place right now.
I also agree with what Jesssica and many other people have said. The United States has a large national debt and a slumping economy. We also have a war still going on. The U.S. has plenty of our own problems to deal with and cannot keep sending our people and money all over the world to aid every disaster. The Australian government needs to take action and begin working to help themselves. Australia has plenty of resources available to solve this problem and does not need the assistance of the U.S. or any other country, nor do we have the resources available to aid Australia with this disaster.
I think that we should be careful about immediately wanting to help Australia. With our massive amount of debt that we have piled up already it is hard to justify assisting Australia right away. However I do think that if the Australian government struggles to form and effective plan of action then it will be appropriate for the U.S. to step in.
As Ann pointed out, Australia recieved far fewer relief funds than Pakistan did and I think that much of this is to do with the economic standings of the two areas. As explained in the article, "Pakistan's GDP per capita is $955, compared to more than $42,000 in Australia." Australia should be able to hold their own based on their fiscal status moreso than Pakistan is able to. The main problem it seems, it the "disaster gap" forming between wealthy and poorer countries. This problem will only get worse unless poorer countries like Pakistan can be developed and sustain healthy socioeconomic standards. I feel the US should not necessecarily intervene with Australia's affairs in our current ecopnomic state but helped Pakistan in order to stimulate our global economy which can be beneficial to our nation in the long run.
It is a good point that the government should not be aiding Australia, and instead should be working on our own problems (because we are in a huge amount of debt.) However, this being said, it should not be frowned upon if an American wants to help out with the situation. If they wish to donate and raise money for the cause I believe that this is completely fine.
I think the cliche quote of "giving a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach him how to fish he will eat for a lifetime" applies to the situation with Pakistan. I do not think the amount of money US has given has decreased because most of them are muslim. I believe it is because of the way they run their country and use the money given to them. We must teach them ways to improve their economic system so that they will be able to sustain themselves in future disasters.
It is a difficult question because you want to help those in need, but how much is too much??
I do not think we should aid Australia because as others have said we are in a lot of debt as well. Australia is capable of handling the disaster themselves. We had to deal with Katrina on our own, Australia can do the same. That being said, I do think we need to give some aid to Pakistan because they cannot handle it by themselves. Improved relations could also gain us an ally in the war on terror since they are a Middle Eastern country
I agree with the previous statement concerning Australia dealing with the flood damage on their own. I feel that Australia is more than capable of bouncing back both in terms of their economy as well as in rebuilding the damage the flood left. The article even states that Australia has gone through a flood and overcame it. The article shows what can happen to a country when they are in good economic standing when dealing with the Pakistan flood. However, this isn't the case for Australia. I don't feel like it's needed but if other nations, especially those that import goods from Australia, feel the need to help the Australians financially they should have no second thoughts about doing so.
I also believe that that Australia should be able to deal with the the flood on there own. The united Stated is already $6 trillion in to debt and we do not need any more. event tho we import there cotton we should try getting rid of our own debt instead of digging ourselves in to a deeper hole.
*Continuation of our Blog:
ReplyDeleteThis disaster consist of massive floods in Australia. Which thus far has flooded over 12,000 homes and left 17 dead. The cost of this disaster is over 3 billion.
Could the Australian government be more involved?
Do you believe this disaster is the cause of global warming?
*blog continuation
ReplyDeleteU.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said that the U.S.is ready to assist Australia. Do you think that the U.S. should provide assistance to Australia, if so why or why not?
As bad as this sounds, I do not think that the U.S. should provide assistance to Australia. Yes, this flood is a horrible natural disaster that is very upsetting, but Australia's government needs to get more involved and take control of this one. The U.S. is in enough debt as it is that we cannot afford to help out with this flood. Just like the blog commented, it is very fortunate that not as many Australians have been killed as other disasters such as the floods in Pakistan. As much as we want to help all the other countries, the U.S. needs to help themselves before they can continue trying to fix everyone else's problems.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Jessica. The US is can't keep acting like everyone's big brother. We have our own economic problems, and military problems that we need to focus on. We keep helping people so they expect that we will keep on doing so however we need to stop for once and just let others deal with their own problems. Sure we can give out a little aid, but this can't turn into another haiti or earthquake crisis where we are providing more help to countries than they are to themselves.
ReplyDeleteI think if we do get involved with the situation in Australia it will be for economic reasons, considering the global cotton and steel markets are being greatly impacted by this. in 2008 we spent 49.5 billion dollars on cotton apparel, if thats not financial incentive i don't know what is.
ReplyDeleteI think whats more troubling about this article is the flooding in pakistan. i'm no foreign policy expert and i'm not really sure what our political relationship with pakistan is but the descriptions of the displaced people there are just gross. we have our domestic problems, and plenty of them, but isn't philanthropy part of the american spirit? $16.36 per person affected in pakistan is not enough to really do anything.
I think you have to look at the Australia flood in two ways. Yes we have economic ties to Austrailia and it will cost a ton of money in the cotton and steel markets, but at the same time do we really have money to for the flood relief? We are already 6 trillion dollars in debt, and Australia has there own money to take care of this disater themselves. When the US has a natural diaster in our country we take care of it ourselves, other countries need to start doing the same.
ReplyDeleteAlso, i agree with Jake, I honestly have no idea what our foreign policy is with Pakistan, but its situations like this that we should be helping. My heart breaks for them living on the streets becuase they have no where to live and no one seems to be helping them. With there failing government should be sign that someone needs to step in and help them a lending hand.
Economically, we should NOT help Australia. We have ties to them, but these ties are not equal in worth to the money it will take to aid these people.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I expect we will help.
blog continuation
ReplyDeleteIt seems that we have different opinions in regards to whether U.S. government should financially assist Pakistan to cope with the country’s catastrophes. However, data has shown that $388.33 was received by each person affected during Pakistan earthquake in 2005, which is a huge difference as compared to the 2010 floods, $16.36 per person affected. Why do you think the amount of donations and attentions received by Pakistan have shrunk from the international community? Is it because Pakistan is an Islamic country and the victims are Muslim? Is it donor exhaustion? Donor lose faith to the way Pakistan government handle the funds?
I do not think that the U.S. should fully support the flooding in Australia, but I do not think it would hurt if we helped in some way. Yes we are in debt, but not helping Australia will not reduce our enormous level of debt.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the questions, I do not know how strong the Australian government is but along with the military, they should fully be helping their fellow countryman.
When asked the question should we get involved I have to say we shouldn't. I believe that Australia's government is not involed enough in plans for evacuation and stop the spreading of the floods from destroying other parts of Australia. This event reminds of Hurricane Katrina in which there were rumors that the government knew of how bad this storm was going to hit however the government did not push any harder with evacutation plans. I believe the same thing might be happening in Australia also. Although we do have ties with Australia like Amber said, I still believe that it is their responsibility to get out of this situation that is taking place right now.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with what Jesssica and many other people have said. The United States has a large national debt and a slumping economy. We also have a war still going on. The U.S. has plenty of our own problems to deal with and cannot keep sending our people and money all over the world to aid every disaster. The Australian government needs to take action and begin working to help themselves. Australia has plenty of resources available to solve this problem and does not need the assistance of the U.S. or any other country, nor do we have the resources available to aid Australia with this disaster.
ReplyDeleteI think that we should be careful about immediately wanting to help Australia. With our massive amount of debt that we have piled up already it is hard to justify assisting Australia right away. However I do think that if the Australian government struggles to form and effective plan of action then it will be appropriate for the U.S. to step in.
ReplyDeleteAs Ann pointed out, Australia recieved far fewer relief funds than Pakistan did and I think that much of this is to do with the economic standings of the two areas. As explained in the article, "Pakistan's GDP per capita is $955, compared to more than $42,000 in Australia." Australia should be able to hold their own based on their fiscal status moreso than Pakistan is able to. The main problem it seems, it the "disaster gap" forming between wealthy and poorer countries. This problem will only get worse unless poorer countries like Pakistan can be developed and sustain healthy socioeconomic standards. I feel the US should not necessecarily intervene with Australia's affairs in our current ecopnomic state but helped Pakistan in order to stimulate our global economy which can be beneficial to our nation in the long run.
ReplyDeleteIt is a good point that the government should not be aiding Australia, and instead should be working on our own problems (because we are in a huge amount of debt.) However, this being said, it should not be frowned upon if an American wants to help out with the situation. If they wish to donate and raise money for the cause I believe that this is completely fine.
ReplyDeleteI think the cliche quote of "giving a man a fish and he will eat for a day, teach him how to fish he will eat for a lifetime" applies to the situation with Pakistan. I do not think the amount of money US has given has decreased because most of them are muslim. I believe it is because of the way they run their country and use the money given to them. We must teach them ways to improve their economic system so that they will be able to sustain themselves in future disasters.
It is a difficult question because you want to help those in need, but how much is too much??
I do not think we should aid Australia because as others have said we are in a lot of debt as well. Australia is capable of handling the disaster themselves. We had to deal with Katrina on our own, Australia can do the same. That being said, I do think we need to give some aid to Pakistan because they cannot handle it by themselves. Improved relations could also gain us an ally in the war on terror since they are a Middle Eastern country
ReplyDeleteThis is a good point, but is it Pakistan's fault that they cannot handle it on their own?
ReplyDeleteWe should punish Australia for being stable? Or get even because no one helped us?
I agree with the previous statement concerning Australia dealing with the flood damage on their own. I feel that Australia is more than capable of bouncing back both in terms of their economy as well as in rebuilding the damage the flood left. The article even states that Australia has gone through a flood and overcame it. The article shows what can happen to a country when they are in good economic standing when dealing with the Pakistan flood. However, this isn't the case for Australia. I don't feel like it's needed but if other nations, especially those that import goods from Australia, feel the need to help the Australians financially they should have no second thoughts about doing so.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that that Australia should be able to deal with the the flood on there own. The united Stated is already $6 trillion in to debt and we do not need any more. event tho we import there cotton we should try getting rid of our own debt instead of digging ourselves in to a deeper hole.
ReplyDeleteI dont not belive that American should be forced to floot the bill for any other oountry execept the United States, I agree with Brian.
ReplyDelete