Reply To: Donald Trump
1. We saved the world a couple of times.
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Volunteers from Ireland, contingents from India and the Carribean etc entered the war to help Europe from nearly the beginning. America entered the war quite late, letting its European allies and trading partners fend for themselves while countless millions died, then at the last minute the US enters, helps the war end switly and save lives and then claims they “saved the world” despite the Russians sacrificing exponentially more soldiers and despite Allied countries sacraficing their cities bombed to rubble in order to end the Axis (which would have been terrible for everyone including the US). What America did in both Wars was admirable (though that whole atom bomb dropped a second time was grotesque) and it is unlikely the war would have been won (or at least not drag on forever) without the help of the US (as well as Australia, Canada, South American countries and even African contingents) so a million thanks are owed to America (and Canada amongst many others) for their sacrafice of young men and enormous spenditure of money and resources. But to say America “saved the world” through its just in time entry is hyperbole. That being said, the Marshal Plan would certainly approach “saving the world” as without that kind of extremely generous investment Europe would have stagnated (and the US would lose its trading partners) and taken forever to recover. Their investments in Japan and Phillippines certainly helped Japan redevelop and bring prosperity and stability to the region!
American films and literature helped save the world to some extent as well, as the ideas transmitted throughout the world, many of which included prosperity through peace, democratic stability and the opportunities of capitalism as well as equality amongst the sexes without a doubt helped speed up social change in many countries (and likely helped avoid some domestic conflict and international wars).
2. Giving:
The US donates more money and resources to the developing world than any other country. Having said that, they give less aid “per capita” is below average with Nordic countries and many European countries giving a notably larger chunk of their GDP to foreign aid.
However, the aid that private Americans give domestically and internationally is quite high. The domestic charity donations can be explained by a notable lack of government funded social services but the international aid cannot. Americans indeed are quite generous when it comes to private individuals donating money to international projects.
