Who is a threatening who?
Sir, Jim Kolbe’s warning that “Baby-boomers threaten the war on global poverty” July 27, seems a bit off the mark since, as threats come, it should be quite clear by now that global poverty is a much larger one to the baby-boomers themselves.
Kolbe is of course right when he explains about how much the competition from entitlement programs might signify for what’s-over-for-aid-and-alike, in terms of cash budget allocation, but if we are really going to be more explicit about the links between them, then he should also explain that it is much more than about money. Equally no one would object that the US needs to be much more careful with its international stature but, also, even in this case, it is not really the amount of aid-dollars paid that will break or make the day, and believing that it is only a question of hard money, is about the surest way of loosing international stature. When Kolbe says that “Nothing provides as much tangible evidence of America’s leadership as foreign aid” we, the good friends of the USA, do not know where to look.
Nonetheless, let us not despair, who knows if satisfying the high expectancies build up by the baby-boomers could not turn itself into a real growth opportunity for the many poor, far superior in effectiveness than aid itself, and all in line with frequently heard clamors such as “give us trade not aid”. Mr. Kolbe, do help in fixing your entitlement overhangs, not so much for the poor of the world, they would hardly notice it, but try doing it for your own soon to be poorer baby boomers.
Kolbe is of course right when he explains about how much the competition from entitlement programs might signify for what’s-over-for-aid-and-alike, in terms of cash budget allocation, but if we are really going to be more explicit about the links between them, then he should also explain that it is much more than about money. Equally no one would object that the US needs to be much more careful with its international stature but, also, even in this case, it is not really the amount of aid-dollars paid that will break or make the day, and believing that it is only a question of hard money, is about the surest way of loosing international stature. When Kolbe says that “Nothing provides as much tangible evidence of America’s leadership as foreign aid” we, the good friends of the USA, do not know where to look.
Nonetheless, let us not despair, who knows if satisfying the high expectancies build up by the baby-boomers could not turn itself into a real growth opportunity for the many poor, far superior in effectiveness than aid itself, and all in line with frequently heard clamors such as “give us trade not aid”. Mr. Kolbe, do help in fixing your entitlement overhangs, not so much for the poor of the world, they would hardly notice it, but try doing it for your own soon to be poorer baby boomers.
Jim Kolbe baby boomers poverty foreign aid entitlement
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