I still can't get my head round the fact that India has the funds for a space program and has launched a rocket to Mars whilst all we ever seem to see on the telly is people living in the worst slums imaginable.

They were discussing this on the radio this morning and it was suggested that 45 million spent on a space program is a drop in the ocean and won't feed India's poor but will give aspirations to many.

Not sure the poor will agree with that...

I think Britain and many other European powers did a lot if damage to various countries (including, if not especially America, Australia etc) during their colonial regeims and have an awful lot to answer for in certain cases. I do think there is a duty of reparition owed, however foreign aid does need to be cleverer. Just giving money to a broken and bent nation probably won't see a change, but as Cuba and china have done in several African countries, building roads and hospitals etc is a real investment and makes a difference and creates jobs even for the least skilled of workers

this country cannot afford to keep giving money away , all we seem to do is give it away and allow others to take take take.........

Our country is in crisis, the old are being ignored, the NHS is in turmoil, benefits for those who need it are being cut , nursing homes are being shut down, the list goes on and on.

Charity begins at home, and we need to start looking after our own before we look after others, and in many cases the money does not even get to those who need it but line the pockets of the already wealthy and corrupt.

I don't think that the statement "charity begins at home" carries much weight at all. I mean if we're talking about countries offering foreign aid only... it carries absolutely no weight.

America isn't any better off than many other countries, but being a "world power" obligates you to use that POWER to help keep the WORLD running. Unfortunately, this seems to be gone about the wrong way most of the time IMO.

Forking out tons of handouts to countries that do not know how to use them is worthless and completely wasteful, as harsh as that may sound. Also, imposing governments on other countries because it "works" for us isn't the way to go, either.

They show us the T.V. shows with all the poor starving children dying. They give us the sob stories of their lives.. and when we donate... almost none of what we give even goes to help them

There has got to be a better way...

All that being said we are still a far way richer than many places on earth. I've been to malawi and seen real poverty. What counts as poverty here is a world apart from what they are asking for.

Now I don't think just giving money is the answer but we have an obligation to help build infrastructure that is sustainable in these countries which in many cases we played a major role in messing up in the first place.

Sorry if this is unclear I just think we need some perspective on what real poverty actually is.

AshMan - if your mother was bedbound in a "care" home and left to rot in her own excrement by "carers" from wherever Countries you have been to or seen...

...what would you prefer?

Money dished out to foreign aid - to countries who have space programs etc while their own people starve - and in the process your own mother was supposedly being looked after by people from those countries?

Dish out money so a Country can send a vehicle to the moon but force a woman from that same Country carrying a 7 month fetus to abort it?

I'm not sure I understand the point you are trying to make but just to be clear

I don't think "dishing out money" is the answer to anything. I do think we should help find and introduce sustainable solutions.

I would never opt for abortion. Ever. Under any circumstance.

I'm no expert on the state of care homes in this country though I've seen a couple. I've also seen hospitals and orphanages in Malawi. Worlds apart.

Fact is here we quite rightly worry about the standard of living for the elderly. Who have steadily been living longer since the 60s with a life expectancy of 81.

There they worry about their survival and have a life expectancy of 54.

Perspective

Oh that is OK then - I am way past 54 so I should be dead then. You, presumably, do not have a mother.

Malawi? Go look at care homes in the UK before you start worrying about Malawi.

And you still think that giving aid to Countries who can afford to send a vehicle to the moon is OK when they slaughter 7 month fetuses?

Foreign Aid

I didn't say that.

We can afford to support the elderly here and do foreign aid. I'm not going to debate individual political powers in particular countries I just wanted to highlight the fact that as bad as we claim to have it here there are many more people far worse off than ourselves who we have a moral obligation to help.

By the uk standards I live below the poverty line. Yet I have a roof over my head and I will eat in the morning.

So many people do not have that. Are we to ignore them?