10,000 new homes for the poor in....

[notebook.fix]

Venezuela!!!

As part of a plan , Argentina will donate & help out in building 10,000 new homes for the poor & disadvantaged in Venezuela.

Yepeee! Argentina is going to rescue Chavez!! WHAT ELSE?
Now I don't feel so bad about the subsidies being taken away.


......"la Presidente llevará el apoyo de la Argentina a un plan de viviendas populares que lleva adelante la administración chavista para construir unas dos millones de casas. En un principio, la participación del Gobierno argentino sería con la construcción de unas 10.000 viviendas, aunque esa cifra podría incrementarse, según trascendió.".

http://www.infobae.com/notas/619255...Chavez-y-asistira-a-otra-cumbre-regional.html

 

[Adios_USA]

Seems like a nice gesture of good will toward Chavez, who if I remember correctly, aided a financially strapped Argentina with the pay off of their debt to the parasitic IMF. Chavez may not have the best politics for a country, but anyone who goes up against these nation wreckers (International Banksters/IMFers) deserves some support, IMHO.

 

[TheBlackHand]

One hand washes the other.

 

[NedHowey]

You are right. I can't believe how they are supporting Chavez by providing homes to 10,000 poor families that would otherwise be homeless. If they really wanted to help the people of Venezuela, they would be making those families suffer instead on the streets!

And besides, how is it the Argentine government hasn't learned from the example of my country, the US, how to support world leaders yet, by offering "aid packages" that get turned around immediately into arms deals dollar for dollar, as is the case with Isreal, Mubarak, and a multitude of dictators.

And all the while taking away energy subsidies from the most wealthy Argentines and businesses (which are still predominantly foreign-owned in Argentina).

Curses this Argentine government and its supposed good will! It's ruining everything.

(PS, I'm no huge fan of Chavez, but to view this type of action only through the lens of political vengeance towards Chavez, I don't believe is going to inform good reasonable policy decisions for the world. Or maybe you could explain your view to one of those families that is going to get one of those homes).

 

[dani28]

Right, and since Argentina is so well-off these days, why not share the wealth? Its not like there is poverty here. There are not that many women thrown on the streets with babies, cartoneros, and forget the young professional trying to survive on 3000 pesos a month in CAP FED. Lets help out our besties in Venezuela, Cuba, and while we are at it, why not North Korea too?

You are right. I can't believe how they are supporting Chavez by providing homes to 10,000 poor families that would otherwise be homeless. If they really wanted to help the people of Venezuela, they would be making those families suffer instead on the streets!

And besides, how is it the Argentine government hasn't learned from the example of my country, the US, how to support world leaders yet, by offering "aid packages" that get turned around immediately into arms deals dollar for dollar, as is the case with Isreal, Mubarak, and a multitude of dictators.

And all the while taking away energy subsidies from the most wealthy Argentines and businesses (which are still predominantly foreign-owned in Argentina).

Curses this Argentine government and its supposed good will! It's ruining everything.

(PS, I'm no huge fan of Chavez, but to view this type of action only through the lens of political vengeance towards Chavez, I don't believe is going to inform good reasonable policy decisions for the world. Or maybe you could explain your view to one of those families that is going to get one of those homes).

 

[Lucas]

Scratch my back, I will scratch yours...and everyone is happy.
That's what good friends are for.

 

[NedHowey]

This is an interesting argument. And certainly not without value.

We are getting into a debate here about opportunity cost. Which is a little more interesting and a little more tricky, as well.

I agree that those funds could have been used for another purpose. But this argument could be made for any spending (and usually is). We will always live among scarcity. Even the US could justify not giving aid until it has resolved all its poverty issues.

Even more to the point, is that the government in Argentina already is increasing the amounts of spending towards the poor of this country - which is one of the main criticisms they are facing right now.

As far as giving to Cuba, and N Korea, and the boogie man, that is a mere slippery slope argument, and a logical fallacy. However, since it is the example made for absolute value sake, I would say if there was a way of helping the poor of those countries without giving giving further power to the administrations (such as in arms or direct funds), I would as well support that. I guess the question at hand is do the poor people of a country deserve to pay the price for their regime?

Was the decision made because of politics between Venezuela and Argentina. Sure. Undoubtedly there is a political benefit to the two countries "getting along".

So, external versus internal spending aside, in terms of the question of opportunity cost, is it that one group of people deserve less help than another because the regime they live in? I can understand the point of believing the Argentine government should help its own poor first, but in the comparison of worthiness between a young professional medium salary (for Argentina) expat (which I fall into) versus a homeless Venezuelan family I would not feel comfortable that the young professional is more deserving just because they don't live under Chavez.

It just doesn't seem to me with all the truly atrocious international policy decisions out there that promote war, wealth displacement, and bad economy, that this one is worthy of drawing ire. Aren't there some more terrible and appalling decisions in the world we can be upset about? Although I guess I am playing fast and loose with opportunity politics now too.

Thanks for the discussion guys. I appreciate it and wish you all well, even if we disagree.

 

[TrevorCito]

There are poor people living homeless on the street near to where I live and one homeless old man who eats RAW chicken scraps and bones given to him by the butcher across the road. He suffers from exposure to the elements, hasn't washed in weeks. His skin is infested with scabies and looks like this: http://www.google.com.au/imgres?q=scabies&hl=en&sa=X&nord=1&biw=1599&bih=847&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=uuql8JANkp8ciM:&imgrefurl=http://www.emedicinehealth.com/script/main/art.asp%3Farticlekey%3D120801&docid=Ncum4aK4DA48nM&imgurl=http://images.emedicinehealth.com/images/SlideShow/stds-s3-photo-of-scabies.jpg&w=493&h=335&ei=SYrTTrbBPJHPmAX786TdDQ&zoom=1

Now, can somebody tell me how he's being helped by the antics of Christina?

Argentina helps the Venezuelan poor and Venezuela subsidises heating oil for the poor in the USA: http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/5965

Now, here's a crazy idea... how about Christina help the poor old man living on my street corner FIRST before giving away Argentine taxes and how about Chavez help his own poor build houses rather than buying heating oil for poor people in the USA.

 

[TrevorCito]

Scratch my back, I will scratch yours...and everyone is happy.
That's what good friends are for.

How can you be so flippant about this?

I'm not a proponent of the USA or her allies, just a casual observer but the worst thing Argentina should do is aggravate the USA and it's allies by supporting Chavez. By doing so, Argentina continues to alienate herself from the the countries that rule the world such as the USA, England, France and Germany. Chavez was told to bow down to the USA and he basically gave them the finger. Now his people are paying the price. Have you heard of North Korea? Well I hate to say it but that could be Venezuela in a few years.

I can understand that Christina does not want Argentina to become a servant to international powers but her strategies are near sighted because she fails to truly understand international matters, globalisation and power. If she had micron of intelligence she would doing everything she can to ally Argentina with the USA and her allies.

Iraq, Lybia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Afganistan and India are all controlled by the USA and her allies. How long before Iran falls? Who's next after the middle east? Does attention turn to south america? When will it be Argentina's turn and how long before aircraft carriers are parked en el Rio de la plata? 30, 50, 70 years? Just food for thought. Argentina needs to wake up and see what's really happening internationally before it's too late.

 

[notebook.fix]

Well said, what's really scary is how some here fail to grasp such political basics. You actually have to spell it out slowly, but it still doesn't pierce the first layer.

It used to be the three stooges ...Kretina, Chavez & Kadafy...now there's only two left.
Who on this planet would be so politically inept & moronic as to give Chavez the grand 'Freedom of the press' award???? Who else?

How can you be so flippant about this?

I'm not a proponent of the USA or her allies, just a casual observer but the worst thing Argentina should do is aggravate the USA and it's allies by supporting Chavez. By doing so, Argentina continues to alienate herself from the the countries that rule the world such as the USA, England, France and Germany. Chavez was told to bow down to the USA and he basically gave them the finger. Now his people are paying the price. Have you heard of North Korea? Well I hate to say it but that could be Venezuela in a few years.

I can understand that Christina does not want Argentina to become a servant to international powers but her strategies are near sighted because she fails to truly understand international matters, globalisation and power. If she had micron of intelligence she would doing everything she can to ally Argentina with the USA and her allies.

Iraq, Lybia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Afganistan and India are all controlled by the USA and her allies. How long before Iran falls? Who's next after the middle east? Does attention turn to south america? When will it be Argentina's turn and how long before aircraft carriers are parked en el Rio de la plata? 30, 50, 70 years? Just food for thought. Argentina needs to wake up and see what's really happening internationally before it's too late.