Americans may believe that they are the most powerful nation on the planet, but in reality, they are one of several that have similar traits.

It may surprise you to know that U.S. Foreign Aid has nearly DOUBLED from 1997 (Clinton administration)to 23.7 billion dollars requested by Bush for 2007. That said, this amount is still only 0.16 percent of the US Gross National Product. Therefore the US makes the highest contribution to Foreign Aid among developed nations, but the lowest % of our income. From Wikipedia: "However...private donations in the United States... are estimated to be at least $34 billion dollars a year: International giving by US foundations: $1.5 billion per year Charitable giving by US businesses: $2.8 billion annually American NGOs: $6.6 billion in grants, goods and volunteers. Religious overseas ministries: $3.4 billion, including health care, literacy training, relief and development. US colleges scholarships to foreign students: $1.3 billion Personal remittances from the US to developing countries: $18 billion in 2000" That 18 billion came from you and you and you and me, directly from our wallets to causes we personally want to support. As you can see, the private contributions far exceed the federal ones. There has been a great deal of discussion on ways to improve delivery systems for these funds and programs to make sure they accomplish the goals and reach the persons most in need. I'm sure there is a lot of inefficiency and waste. The point is, Americans DO care. We volunteer time, energy and money to help people less fortunate around the world. Can we do more? Yes. Can we do it better? DEFINITELY. We need to find a way to make sure these funds (some 58 billion dollars a year) accomplish what is intended.

We could do a lot more, but we could do a lot less, and as a matter of fact we do more than anybody else, both governmentally and nongovernmentally. You're letting your emotions get in the way of the facts.

I believe that we as a nation could do a lot more. But as a previous post stated, we could also do a lot less. I personally believe, that the "less fortunate" that we should begin doing more for, are located within our own borders. Fix our own house before we attempt to make repairs on others.

It is not true. You can always donate, and we do, through the NGOs which work under such circumstances. Red Cross and such organizations always get larges donations from here. when it comes to Government, however, national interests are always kept in the forefront whenever aid related decisions are made. That’s when we come across contradictions. Governments are not in the business of philanthropy. They always donate keeping political interests in sight.

That depends on how you are looking at it. If you are a foreign country that might one day support the US in a decision, they are right there with funding and support, OR if your cause is against a common "enemy" of the US, they are right there to back you up, funding your army or supplying you with arms. But if you are a citizen with no health care, if you are a teacher whose school is closing due to fund problems, or you are an elderly person whose Medicaid may disappear, or a homeless person who lost a job due to a collapsing economy... The US is nowhere to be found. If you look from their perspective, the US is TOO busy in the affairs of the rest of the world and not busy enough with their own.

We don't do enough, or really much of anything, to help people who need it here at home. Why should we do more for other nations? They don't do anything for us, save for providing unfavorable trade terms. It is the responsibility of governments to do for their own people, and it is widely thought (and my belief) that people get the government they deserve. When we do nothing for another nation, we are ajudged as heartless and uncaring. When we do for others, our efforts are sneered at and frequently interpreted as an effort to gain undue influence. When a people do without something, are incapable of providing it for themselves, and we attempt to give it to them, the funds or goods are often misappropriated, enriching individuals or groups and changing nothing. Besides, on a more fundamental level, nobody likes us, and the countries in need often more than most.Giving doesn't change their opinion. Take North Korea for example; when people need to carry goods or packages by hand, do you know what they most often use? Grain and rice sacks with our flag on them, which they receive through food aid programs. They carry in their hands, everyday, a physical example of our generally good-willed nature, and yet want to turn our land into a "lake of fire". People need to take care of themselves. If there's no food or water, get walking. If your government steals from you, overthrow it. It is unworthy of humanity is to hold your right hand out with the palm up, whilst slapping the donor with the left.

I get so tired of this idea that Americans don't care about others. It is true that the government does not give as much as those of other countries. However, as LynfromNM pointed out we give a whole lot more in the form of private donations. Those that want to paint us as selfish prefer to ignore these private donations. However, I do not really feel that it is the place of government to extort funds from us in the form of taxes and then use that money for charity. That is the responsibility of us as individuals. As can be seen from the numbers in LynfromNM's answer, private organizations do a lot more than our government does. Private organizations also tend to use the money more efficiently than government does because they tend not to have as much bureaucracy that must be supported. If you really look at the numbers, you find that Americans are among the most giving people there are. The difference is that we give out of our individual pockets rather than relying on our government to give for us.

I think aid given by rich countries could be done much better and smarter - and so be more effective. But many in the US are very insular. In Europe, for instance, you drive for a few hours and you hear a different language, there are different laws, maybe different money. In the US you drive just as far and you might not have left your home state. +5