Why should the American Taxpayer foot the bills for aid to the world that mainly does not help us in any way?

Question

Or put another way: is it our responsibility to feed, clothe and care for the world? What do you think that we get in return for this? And is it cost effective?

Answer 1

if we don't help the world the world would bring the biggest army and weapons on human history and destroy the U.S

Answer 2

It's goodwill to our neighbors. We've been horrible to our neighbors. Any charity will help us, as long as we don't call the shots.

Answer 3

We get a reputation as a caring country.  Remember we are the wealthiest nation in the world if we don't give anything other countrys will start asking why. Nothing is for free, so our tax money going into foreign aid is not meaningless.  We are helping people and getting a good reputation.  Besides  the government spends very little of it's budget on foreign aid.

Answer 4

We shouldn't.  Isn't it curious that we never hear the conservatives complain about it though?  Just the money spent on their fellow Americans.

Answer 5

WE DON'T to any significant extent, although most Americans are too dumb to or too lazy to know the facts.  When Americans were asked to estimate the percentage of the US federal budget that is spent on foreign aid the estimates averaged out to about 24%, whereas in reality, US foreign aid amounts to less than 1% of the federal budget.

Look it up.

If you want to cut your household budget, you wouldn't START by bitching about how much you are spending on toilet paper, would you?  People who "preach" to you about foreign aid are just trying to cover for something else!

Answer 6

You raise a lot of valid points, but the main reason we do these things is to foster international stability.  Although we, as Americans, do not see the benefits directly of these acts that we do to help foreign countries, it does help us too.  If we supply food, shelter, and infrastructure to a country it helps us by not having that country later destabilize and then the UN (including US) would spend more money and resources on fixing the problem.  It is cost effective because it deters our future cost of doing nothing.  Also, US investment in these countries would suffer as well.  If the international economy suffers, the US is the one that is hit the most.

Answer 7

Because the recipients of such aid are an important factor for our economy! If we do not help them to lead a life of their own, they will not be able to buy American products and in the end our own standard of life will go down.

In the times of today especially the industrialized countries depend on the rest of the world as customers of their products!