Because they went and gave themselves the title "World's Policeman".
The rest of the world is at least 50% of the problem Nop. We intervene, we're assholes. Problems in another country, they come screaming for us to give them aid, money and support the people's cause. We're screwed no matter what we do. People tend to focus on where we've been assholes and not where we've solved a whole lot of the rest of the worlds problems. And that means on my tax dollars.
China meanwhile is giving all the countries in South America,Africa and Former oil producing soviet republics tons of foreign aide.
You can't POSSIBLY think that is altruistic. China is giving aid in the same way the US has many times ... to work it's own angles and future investment strategy.
Much of American "foriegn aide" is going to support dictators like Mubarak for the tune of 3.5 billion a year.
Percentage of GDP the US government gives the least approx 0.35% compared to other countries at 2%+.
But on the other hand, Americans privately give far more to charities. So even if US gov't is an asshole, American's themselves are not
Asking do I think China is being altruistic is comical. Of course not, what I am saying is Chinese foreign aide is being used more effectively and indirectly helping more people out.
The Panama Canal is a prime example. Unlike the Suez Canal, which is all at sea level, it goes through a series of locks to a maximum elevation of 26m. And then back down again. At the time of it's construction it was an engineering marvel of the world.
Did the US construct the Panama Canal to be altruistic ? No, one of the main reasons for construction of the canal was because USA had acquired pacific colonies like the Philippines etc. They needed a quicker way to move their ships from the eastern seaboard to the western. Has the Panama Canal benefited the entire world ? Yes. Costs of shipping for Asia to Europe and Eastern USA dropped drastically. This means cheaper good for people etc. Before the Canal, Panama did not even exist as a country. The Canal itself employs countless people etc. So it is a win-win for everyone.
Biggest problem with making the canal larger, is that the locks which lift the ships up and down are filled by diverting rivers. Rivers only produce so much water, so that is the constraining factor. Also shipping has changed. 100 years ago container ships did not exist. The Chinese plan is to construct 2 massive container ports on each side of Panama. With a modern container facility, a container can be unloaded, and loaded onto a rail car in as little as 30 seconds. Then move the containers to the other side and load them onto another ship. Time will be lost due to the unloading and loading process, but rail cars will be able to travel faster then a ship in the canal. So probably the time will be approx the same. Also less energy will be used, since the cargo is only being moved, and not the ship itself.
If china succeeds with it's plan. Cost of goods will be cheaper for everyone.
On a smaller scale China is building infrastructure around the world. This is far more effective for maintaining world peace, as opposed to pissing away your money supporting a dictator
.
The problem is that people do not understand Adam Smith's "invisible hand". In his book he gives the example of a "market". And why it works. He states that gov't should not control prices. Notice Adam Smith did not say the gov't should not make "laws". Also for the "market" itself. Who constructed that "market", most likely it was the king
. (during Adam Smith's day the king ran shit
I am not advocating king's are effective gov't
) Who constructed the roads going to the market ? The king. Major infrastructure often has to be constructed by a gov't.
Love them or hate them. M$, Google and Apple have probably done more to make life better for the average person, then all the gov't programs put together. Because of the 2 companies, the price of a PC has been lowered so almost anyone in the world can afford to buy one. And Apple is now doing the same thing with mobile devices. Along the way many shareholders have become rich, that is good, it is capitalism at work. Foxconn employs how many workers in China ?
Capitalism works because it is "greedy" which is human nature. But capitalism does not mean no laws, that is called anarchy
