Campaign Contributions

Think large bags of money, donated by some wealthy, old lady in England, who (with gloves on) tells some servant, younger-than-she, to send the money to those poor people in Africa. She has no idea where the money is going, she has no care as to what the money will go towards, for it is simply the idea of ‘helping’ (aimlessly donating in this case) that helps such a lady sleep at night.

Now, lets beam this lady onto a larger scale, lets amplify her into a country. The same ‘self-less’ (as it requires little-to-no personal interaction) act is repeated on a grand scale, where an appropriated amount of money designated by the respective country’s congress. That single bag of money is now multiplied into 20 large bags of money, also containing weapons, food, shelter (Think of these bags like Santa’s gift-carrying bag) and you have the general picture of  ‘international aid’.

But why? Why do these countries feel the need to donate resources to the less fortunate?

Tis a difficult question--is it because of empathy? No.

Is it because the developed countries feel that the sea is rising---so must all of the boats? No.

Is it because these resource-possessing countries want some thing in return for their ‘aid’? YES. (Reciprocity is expected in any relationship--I expect you to comment on this post.)

As stated by the Sultan of Sub-Sahara, the Baron of Borders, or the Maharaja of Mountain Gorillas--‘Foreign Aid’ has been historically shown to be ineffective, while it is continually given to allies rather than those in need. In summation, aid is given strategically… Where countries like Japan will aid land-locked countries in Africa, in efforts of gaining their support in the name of Japanese whaling.

Evidently, the modern, developed country will aid only those countries with a strategic interest… If such a relationship were reciprocal, there would be no reason to ‘invest’ in a country where a developed country has no strategic interests. (see the US occupation of Guam- the US gives resources and protection in exchange for a strategic military station)

So with countries donating only to their friends, and only those friends who hold something valuable in return, is it feasible to compare ‘international aid’ to lobbying groups in politics? Where one group gives support and resources to a specific recipient, in exchange for votes? I think so. The entire scheme of Foreign Aid is rather one big political election, where the developed countries are the lobbying groups, and the less-fortunate states are the candidates- waiting to be swung by sizable aid packages. 

 

This all sounds feasible and realistic, so I wonder, should there be a regulatory body that monitors the foreign aid? A third body that denotes to who and how much a country can aid? Is there a limit to Campaign Contributions?