Sunday, January 31, 2010

Foreign Aid

I read a couple of things this morning about where our US foreign aid money goes.
Christopher Manion, who used to work in Washington D.C. for Senator Jesse Helms, writes:
"Years ago, when I was responsible for reviewing legislation that distributed American "aid" to the Caribbean, I was visited by ...lobbyists and foreign agents who advocated massive amounts of ....taxpayer money for the Haitian government of 'Baby Doc' Duvalier, undoubtedly on of the most corrupt and brutal dictators in a worldwide pantheon of tyrannical thugs.'
'Our poverty is your fault,' the Third World countries sang in chorus, as their lobbyists came around, looking for more money. The trouble was, their poverty was the fault of their dictators, who siphoned off a good 20% or 30% right off the top (in Haiti it was even more: Food 'aid' would be delivered straight to Duvalier's cronies, who would then go sell it or give it away to their constituencies, in turn driving down the prices of food produced by impoverished Haitian farmers, none of whom had large plots of land).
'Unfortunately, a lot of American businesses started to cash in on the 'aid,' since they could sell the government a lot of the food, etc. delivered by aid programs. In their turn, the lobbyists would get about 10% of whatever aid they were able to procure for their foreign clients. It was all legal, an for 50 years the U.S. foreign aid program and the hundreds of billions that U.S. taxpayers provided for foreign 'aid' served primarily to keep recipient countries in poverty, while their rulers plundered the programs and prospered off the corruption."

Friday, January 29, 2010

Being Difficult

I have been reading books on dealing with difficult people. There can be lots of difficult people in our lives. Some of them we live with; many of them we work with. Maybe they go to our church or school. Sometimes we are the difficult ones. Here are some things to look out for so we aren't being the difficult ones:
Anger: Absolutely must control it. Very little is ever achieved by blowing up. Usually only harm is done.
Oversensitivity: Have to get a grip on this one. Most people are not out to hurt us.
Whining: If something is really wrong, point it out. But don't point out every little thing.
Sniping: Stop with the not really funny, humiliating remarks. Be careful with humor.
Nothing person: Communicate! This is a really tough one if someone refuses to communicate with us. Teenagers use this tactic a lot to "get back" at their "mean" parents.
There are some good books out there on the subject of difficult people. If someone in your life is really giving you grief, for heaven's sake, try to find out if you can do anything about it!
And be aware that at times we all give people grief: inconsiderate remarks, impatience, cutting people off in traffic, etc.
When dealing with difficult people it often helps if you catch them off guard and give them a hug, compliment, or whatever, before they can get started criticizing, being negative, etc.
With a little consideration, humor and humility, a lot of difficulties can be avoided.