The Role of the U.S. in the Third World in the Year 2000
The United States budget will continue to tighten and we must better utilize our dollars
spent on Third World aid. The questions of illegal immigration, the population
explosion, and
environmental issues will become vital to our future. With closer linkage of US aid to
these issues
we can get the most bang for our buck.
The best way to stop illegal immigration into the United States is not to erect higher
fences at our borders, but to invest in the third world, primarily Mexico. Providing
jobs at home
where they enjoy life without worry about the INS is the best solution. This solution
will be
cheaper than increasing funding for border patrols and INS personnel. If we were able to
keep most
illegal immigrates home, the more impoverished they would become and the greater the
incentive for
them to cross the border. By investing and improving their homeland, more people would
stay home,
rather than take the dangerous journey to an unknown country to provide food for their
families.
Slowing down population rates of third world countries must be another priority.
Empowering women in third world countries, giving them independence from their husband
and a choice
in birth control is a start. Smaller grants similar to Foundation of the Philippine
Environment can
reward particular actions of foreign government, whether it be environmental, social or
economic.
Too many of current policies are aimed at creating markets for our commercial interests.
We must also link aid with environmental issues, making the rain forest and jungles more
profitable to locals without bulldozing them. This has been demonstrated in Uganda with
the
mountain gorillas. Eco-tourism is helping the local economies and the national
governments. This
was also working in Rwanda until Civil War tore this country apart. Fortunately the
mountain
gorillas have been left alone for the most part, since this was their third largest
income provider
and the number one and two sources, coffee and tea fields were destroyed during the war.
Worldwide instant communication has improved human rights. The use of fax machines and
cell
telephones during the Tiananmen Square uprising informed the world of events and somewhat
restrained
the Chinese. Dan Rather doing the evening news from the Square while the protests were
happening
prevented the massacre from being ignored. The advent of CNN has put instant news into
the hands of
people all over the world. The World Wide Web is now letting people put their stories
doing. This
is starting at Universities and will exponentially expand as the equipment gets cheaper
and students
will move into the work force. This newest communication tool will help put pressure on
authoritarian regimes that normally a free press would provide.
We must not ignore the Third World countries for many parts of our inter-cities are
becoming
Third World. Their problems will become our problems. There is a growing isolationist
movement in
this country. This has never solved problems, only postponed and enlarged the problems.
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