Adjective: alive and kicking
1. Alive, vigorous and doing well
—WordWeb OnlineTo kick: (one definition) to protest strenuously or urgently : express grave discontent; complain
Mostly my husband and I don’t fuss about income tax. We don’t like the fact that only 55% of Americans pay taxes and that’s one reason we have to pay so much. And we often don’t like the way the government squanders our money, but mostly we figure it’s not worth wasting our time worrying about it.
But then I read an intriguing article in the Jakarta Globe entitled, India’s Osama Isn’t in the Mountains, But in the Corrupt Halls of Government. I think the author, Raj Gandhi, is correct that often the corruption and ineffectiveness of governments create the breeding ground for terrorism. (Although I don’t agree with him that the Commonwealth Games are enhancing India’s international image. 🙂 ) Mr. Gandhi was talking about India, but his article made me realize my own tax dollars could not just be wasted, they could be doing actual harm by fueling corruption. Maybe I should behave a bit more responsibly and try to see that our foreign aid is going to the right people.
So I sent an e-mail to the White House about my concerns and phoned both of my senators. And I’m starting to search the internet for more information about the effectiveness of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the office that dispenses our economic and humanitarian aid.
The most interesting and useful information I found was this New York Times article on a USAID project in Afghanistan. To put it mildly, it didn’t work nearly as well as they hoped. The project was organized by a contractor named DPK, whose goal is to make the Afghan justice system fair and to get the people to use and believe in it. So what did they try and how did it (not) work? They tried to reach out to children by distributing
kites emblazoned with slogans lauding the rule of law and equality for women. The kites, along with copies of the Afghan Constitution and justice-themed comic books, would be gifts of the United States, part of a $35 million effort “to promote the use of Afghanistan’s formal justice system.”
The sight of the flying kites was supposed to instill hope in the people seeing them. Instead the police took over the job of distributing the kites and took most of them for themselves. The kids were a bit unruly so the police beat them with sticks when they got too close. Some boys did manage to obtain and fly a few of the kites, but even though there were a lot of girls around they mostly didn’t get kites. When one DPK staff member managed to give one of the girls a kite, the girl took it to show her father. He promptly took it away from her and gave it to her brother, saying, “He is my son and he should get the kite.”
The most interesting thing for me was the DPK project head actually called the event a success because 1000 kites were distributed in 20 minutes. Fortunately another DPK staff member was responsible for deciding if the event had met the true objectives…to change people’s attitude toward the law. He was much more discouraged.
What do you think?
Anyway, I will keep poking around and share any other good stories I find. This taxpayer isn’t wasting time complaining, but she’s definitely alive and kicking. 🙂
There is another kind of ‘corruption’ too. This happened with Australian Aid.
The ‘aid’ money went to road building. Firstly the road was built by an Australian company. Secondly the road was built into an area where there wasn’t much poverty but there was a guerrilla army that the government wanted to kill. This may have been valid – but is a long way from humanitarian aid.
I think the US should have also distributed some telescopes so that the children could read the fine print of the constitution while the kites are flying.
Like Evan, I too was thinking about roads – the Salang Pass in particular. The Russians built this for military purposes, but I presume it is used for commerce today.
The important thing about foreign aid is not that it does any good for the needy, but that it makes the doners – or perhaps the people who took the money from the doners – feel good. This is undeniably a benefit, so I will resist the temptation to kick!
My take on the subject, coming as I do from India where I have seen what happens to Aid Money, it is money from the poor of rich countries that goes to benefit the rich of the poor countries. I think that the whole Aid process is obnoxious to say the least. I can understand that if something like Haiti happens, Aid is necessary and that too very quickly. On the other hand, finally, the world is seeing what happens to Aid money when sent to places like Pakistan and it has forced the Pakistanis to generate their own resources to tackle the present disaster aftermath. I for one have been advocating total rejection of Aid to India from any source except from individuals who may want to contribute to say something like the Mother Theresa activities of the Missionaries of Charity. Why Aid, even locally generated funds meant to improve the lot of our poor get frittered away and only around ten percent finally reaches them.
Aid has also become a political tool to buy political support and that too is something that is obnoxious to me.
I would also request you to study in greater detail the distribution curve of tax collection in your country. I would not be surprised that while 55% may indeed be paying income taxes, the really high income individual’s contribution to the total is likely to be peanuts. The major contributors to the revenue are likely to be indirect taxes like excise, vat, customs, sales tax etc. These are passed on to the whole population. That is why it is said that it is money from the poor in rich countries.
That kite idea is as bad as some of the stupid ads on TV. Whoever came up with that was probably an laid off advertising writer.
Evan,
Yes, money doesn’t always go where the donor had hoped. As I recall Mike told us once that a woman, in her will, donated money for Arizona state parks, but the legislature just took the money and used it for other purposes. It was completely legal even if it was unethical.
Looney,
Actually the copies of the constitution were printed handouts.
I may feel good when I donate to a legitimate charity, but not so good when my government just throws money at problems and thinks it is doing great things.
Rummuser,
Yes, as I said in A Dubious Distinction
Mike,
Yes, it was a PR move, one that backfired. I’m not sure the comic books were such a bad idea, assuming the kids can read. My post next week is about a comic book that may do some good.
Once a taxpayer, whether the amount paid is excessive or not, one has the right to enquire about the fate of one’s money. If enough people had the political awareness to do this, we would not see the amount of wastage that we do.
The Afghan example is a perfect example of aid missing the mark. Completely.
gaelikaa,
One galling thing about our aid to Pakistan is that the wealthy elite in that country pay almost no taxes. Akbar Zaidi, a Karachi-based political economist with the Carnegie Endowment, says
PS I just wrote to the White House about that, adding that I’m tired of being played for a fool. Nothing will come of it, of course, but it is fun to speak up.
An Australian article on the effectiveness of one aid program
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s3024302.htm
Some good news (from my dailyAfPak Channel Daily Briefing):
Evan,
Thank you for the link.
Countries that won’t tax their elite: no aid for the US and Australia then!
Evan,
If only other countries were giving us aid. Maybe China (our biggest creditor) will get tired of our profligate ways and exert some pressure? 🙂
Now I have another thing to be angry about. “Only 55 % of Americans pay taxes.”
bikehikebabe,
I was surprised and shocked by that too. 🙁