political lightbulb
So I got a school assignment for government: "If you could write a bill what would it be?" I am so impressed with my own answer, (yeah, I know that sounds cocky, but so what?) that, after I edit it a bit more for grammar (because I know I've got run-on sentences and I know my gov't teacher doesn't care) that I'm going to send this in to my Cogressman:
If any bill were to go through the Congress, it should be one that reforms the way in which the US gives aid to developing countries. While it is important to provide financially for countries in need-for reasons political in nature as well as ethical and moral-the current system is flawed. Simply handing cash out creates a parasitic relationship that can become burdensome for the American public-the public that is supposed to be the main beneficiary of the American government. That combined with past instances of US aid money being spent on things it was not intended to finance or even disappearing altogether is proof enough that the way that America gives financial aid should be reformed. A simple solution would be if the United States diverted its aid money into a scholarship program for US students in a program similar in practice to Doctors Without Borders. Such a program would welcome postgraduates to work oversees for a fixed amount of time, utilizing their skills to directly help the people of underdeveloped and war torn countries. Most obvious would be paying off medical school debts (after any grants, scholarships, etc. already awarded to the student or any money paid back by the student through work-study programs) to treat ill persons such as those infected and affected by the 2008 Zimbabwean cholera outbreak, but the concept could be taken far beyond that. Civil engineering and architecture students could be hired to develop and implement systems for sanitation and the transportation and delivery of clean water for people in the most distant and desolate of places. Once such basic necessities are in place, engineering/architecture students could then design and build green, sustainable homes so that developing countries are not plagued by environmental impact problems that the US is having to deal with a century after industrialization. Second, teaching positions could be made available to US postgrads from any academic field, which would not only educate those living in poverty, thereby offering them a chance at something better, but would place educated individuals with deep passions for their subjects in classrooms to hopefully foster the same love of math or science or any humanity in a third-world child. Education will produce a pool of individuals who will rise to prominence in a variety of ways: those who work to reform corrupt governments, such as those in countries where children don’t even have the right to a birth certificate; and those who go on to solve more global problems, such as discovering the cure for cancer, HIV/AIDS, or a myriad of other daunting diseases, or devising ways of obtaining clean, renewable energy.
Developing countries would not be the only one to benefit from the US government clearing the student debts of US citizens by allowing them to go oversees and work for a fixed amount of time. First, such a program would encourage many to pursue postgraduate degrees and help to balance out the classes, as an extensive education would be available to all, regardless of socioeconomic background. Second, domestic capital would ultimately remain in the country. In the current system, money virtually disappears in one of two ways: it is either shipped off as foreign aid, or it is used to repay debts to private money-lending organizations, concentrating the wealth in fewer hands that simply cannot spend it all. Third, it would be nearly impossible for aid in the form of actual people to be misused or abused by a government seeking to further its own means rather than support its people and lead them to progress. (After all, molecular biologists fresh out of college have yet to be recognized as a from of currency, and therefore can not be exchanged for fast cars, positions of power in government, or weapons of mass destruction.)
There exist untold benefits for both parties in the symbiotic relationship that would be created just by paying for citizens to obtain educations in exchange for humanitarian work, and such a program already has a precedent in the military providing financial aid to those who choose to serve, so it cannot be argued that the government paying for college is unfeasible.
If any bill were to go through the Congress, it should be one that reforms the way in which the US gives aid to developing countries. While it is important to provide financially for countries in need-for reasons political in nature as well as ethical and moral-the current system is flawed. Simply handing cash out creates a parasitic relationship that can become burdensome for the American public-the public that is supposed to be the main beneficiary of the American government. That combined with past instances of US aid money being spent on things it was not intended to finance or even disappearing altogether is proof enough that the way that America gives financial aid should be reformed. A simple solution would be if the United States diverted its aid money into a scholarship program for US students in a program similar in practice to Doctors Without Borders. Such a program would welcome postgraduates to work oversees for a fixed amount of time, utilizing their skills to directly help the people of underdeveloped and war torn countries. Most obvious would be paying off medical school debts (after any grants, scholarships, etc. already awarded to the student or any money paid back by the student through work-study programs) to treat ill persons such as those infected and affected by the 2008 Zimbabwean cholera outbreak, but the concept could be taken far beyond that. Civil engineering and architecture students could be hired to develop and implement systems for sanitation and the transportation and delivery of clean water for people in the most distant and desolate of places. Once such basic necessities are in place, engineering/architecture students could then design and build green, sustainable homes so that developing countries are not plagued by environmental impact problems that the US is having to deal with a century after industrialization. Second, teaching positions could be made available to US postgrads from any academic field, which would not only educate those living in poverty, thereby offering them a chance at something better, but would place educated individuals with deep passions for their subjects in classrooms to hopefully foster the same love of math or science or any humanity in a third-world child. Education will produce a pool of individuals who will rise to prominence in a variety of ways: those who work to reform corrupt governments, such as those in countries where children don’t even have the right to a birth certificate; and those who go on to solve more global problems, such as discovering the cure for cancer, HIV/AIDS, or a myriad of other daunting diseases, or devising ways of obtaining clean, renewable energy.
Developing countries would not be the only one to benefit from the US government clearing the student debts of US citizens by allowing them to go oversees and work for a fixed amount of time. First, such a program would encourage many to pursue postgraduate degrees and help to balance out the classes, as an extensive education would be available to all, regardless of socioeconomic background. Second, domestic capital would ultimately remain in the country. In the current system, money virtually disappears in one of two ways: it is either shipped off as foreign aid, or it is used to repay debts to private money-lending organizations, concentrating the wealth in fewer hands that simply cannot spend it all. Third, it would be nearly impossible for aid in the form of actual people to be misused or abused by a government seeking to further its own means rather than support its people and lead them to progress. (After all, molecular biologists fresh out of college have yet to be recognized as a from of currency, and therefore can not be exchanged for fast cars, positions of power in government, or weapons of mass destruction.)
There exist untold benefits for both parties in the symbiotic relationship that would be created just by paying for citizens to obtain educations in exchange for humanitarian work, and such a program already has a precedent in the military providing financial aid to those who choose to serve, so it cannot be argued that the government paying for college is unfeasible.