Nasa

[steelish]

I don't believe the US is hated because it gives more foreign aid than any other country. No-one is that churlish. Maybe the aid you give is diverted by corrupt officials in the recipient country, and its effectiveness correspondingly diminished. I don't know if it's true, as steelish has insinuated, that the President of Haiti has used the aid America gave to refurbish the Presidential Palace, but if that's true, why the f^ck did you give it to him ... ????

I can understand resentment building up if, instead of granting aid that actually relieves poverty, the US only enriches the ruling elite, with whom, no doubt, lucrative land-grabs can be arranged, but I can't and don't believe the US is hated by people who benefit from its largesse.

It has to do with foreign relations. A country cannot simply bypass another country's government and hand out money to the people. Private charities can do that, but not governments.

I agree completely with your comment about private enterprise, competition and some overarching regulator to control it all, but I am disappointed in your isolationist approach to questions of trade. If you become entirely self-sufficient, you will not grow economically beyond a certain point, but if you allow yourself to benefit from other nations' productive capacities in exchange for some of yours, then all nations benefit and all will experience far greater growth and prosperity than with trade barriers up. I'm amazed a capitalist society would even countenance closed borders when it comes to making money.

I just don't agree with the idea of the U.S. becoming completely reliant upon another nation. Subsidize yes - completely rely, no. And simply being self sufficient in energy does not mean that there won't be import/export and trade relations going on.