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Should We Be Providing ‘Charity’ to Ukraine?
In a recent speech, Rand Paul gave a powerful presentation regarding the millions of dollars we are giving to Ukraine. He likened our situation to a conundrum that Davy Crockett faced when he served in Congress. (Most of us perceive Crockett as an iconic symbol of the West, but he also served in Congress from 1827 to 1835.) And Paul told a story that speaks to our continual donation of funds and military equipment to Ukraine and how it extends a long, expensive, and debilitating process of trying to be generous to other countries under the guise of national security.
Although Crockett’s original speech was not transcribed, his ideas were captured in an 1867 article written by Edward Ellis and published in Harper’s Magazine, called, “Not yours to Give.” And the conclusions that Crockett reached challenged Congress’ intention to donate charity to the widow of a distinguished naval officer. He took his position from an encounter with a citizen who called him out for a similar funding decision that Crockett made in another devastating occurrence. Crockett was credited with the following description of the situation:
Several years ago, I was one evening standing on the steps of the Capitol with some other members of Congress when our attention was attracted by a great light over in Georgetown. It was evidently a large fire. We jumped into a hack and drove over as fast we could. In spite of all that could be done, many houses were burned and many families made houseless, and besides, some of them had lost all but the clothes they had on. The weather was very cold, and when I saw so many women and children suffering, I felt that something ought to be done for them. The next morning a bill was introduced appropriating $20,000 for their relief. We put aside all other business and rushed it through as soon as it could be done.
Later, when Crockett was out on the campaign trail, he encountered a citizen who had once supported him, but was going to withdraw future support for the recent action that Crockett had supported in Congress. The man, Horatio Bunce, shared his reasoning:
The Congressmen chose to keep their own money, which, if reports to be true, some of them spend not very credibly; and the people about Washington, no doubt, applauded you for relieving them from the necessity of giving by giving what was not yours to give. The people have delegated to Congress, by the Constitution, the power to do certain things. To do these, it is authorized to collect and pay moneys, and for nothing else. Everything beyond this is usurpation and a violation of the Constitution. So you see, Colonel, you have violated the Constitution in what I consider a vital point. It is a precedent fraught with danger for the country, for when Congress once begins to stretch its power beyond the limits of the Constitution, there is no limit to it and no security for the people. I have no doubt you acted honestly, but that does not make it any better, except as far as you are personally concerned and you see that I cannot vote for you.
Crockett took Bunce’s counsel to heart, thus denying Congress’ later efforts to provide charity to the naval officer.
* * * *
To be clear, I am ambivalent about our involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war. At this writing, our national debt is at $31,457,4472,102,309, or $94,292 per person. In how many different ways have we used federal funds to ingratiate ourselves to other nations, or to strengthen relationships with our allies, and managed to violate the Constitution? How many times have our intentions to be charitable to those in our own country violated the Constitution? Does our sympathy for the Ukrainians and the war inflicted on them by the Russians justify our apparent limitless funding to assist them? Is there any point where we have gone too far? Does the possibility of stricter oversight justify our borrowing even more money to fund our contributions to Ukraine?
Davy Crockett’s story begs the question: Do we know what we are doing in Ukraine?
[photo courtesy of Getty Images]
Published in Politics
Want?
Sociopath usually demonstrate high intelligence . . .
Wheat Exporting Countries.
Tell you what, Vlad. You get to keep your ill-gotten gains, but we fast-track Ukraine.
For statehood.
Psychopaths might, but I didn’t credit him with that. There are a lot of intellectually average and below average sociopaths, they’re just emotionally really messed up.
Balderdash..the possible deal collapsed in late March when Ukraine realized it could withstand the Russian thrust on Kyiv. Even then it was unlikely since Russia wanted so many restrictions on Ukraine’s foreign policy & military. Why would Ukraine agree to a deal where Russia got keep what it obviously couldn’t hold on to in the coming Ukrainian offensives in Kharkiv & Kherson.
Russia exports twice as much wheat as Ukraine, and yet it’s not on the list.
What gives?
Edited to add:
From this source:
Top 15 Wheat Exporters by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of wheat during 2021.
////
Further edited to add: how many of these countries subsidise their farmers directly and indirectly? Iow how are how are global grain markets skewed by rich countries domestic social policies?
I don’t know. I clipped it from Wikipedia, which is a mistake.
I copied mine from a random internet website, so not too much better. Wiki is open source, so it’s probably a little more vulnerable to manipulative editing.
I have found the whole “let Ukraine export wheat to feed starving Africa” thing irritating because it assumes ignorance. First of all, because Russia exports far more than Ukraine (except maybe sunflower seeds?), and secondly because most of the first organised export of grain from Odessa went to Britain for animal feed.
And all of this ignores why Africa doesn’t grow enough food to feed itself, generate an agricultural economy, which in turn can serve as a basis for industries and economic growth. It had that vacuous “Feed the Woooooorld, Let Them Know It’s Christmas Time” vibe.
Or maybe I’m just being grumpy.
I saw reports that Russia didn’t want us playing any part in negotiations since Biden, Graham, et al. were calling for Putin’s assassination.
I read that the whole of Africa and is undergoing the worst famine in modern history, and it’s being laid at the feet of those who insist that fossil fuels not be made into fertilizer and insecticides and used in Africa.
Tell me where to read this.
I hadn’t heard that but it makes sense. Also, what place does the US really have in negotiations between two warring nations?
I have no idea what country is Template. I don’t know what your point is except to say that The Ukraine a majro competitor of ours in wheat sales.
Which do you mean? About the famine, or that people are calling for restrictions of fertilizer and insecticides? I can’t find the article that cited calling for not using fertilizer and insecticides, though there are many articles that cite that there is a global shortage of fertilizers, here, here and here and give reasons for it.
Regarding the Africa’s famine, there’s this article to start.
And then there are those sanctions.
https://oec.world/en/profile/hs/fertilizers
tldr: biggest exporter of urea is Russia.
And also Russia is not exporting as much fertilizer as it has in the past, and is keeping more for domestic use.
As I said before, if Ukraine had folded quickly, I think Russia absolutely would have continued to treat it’s neighbors aggressively. But at this stage, they will have paid a very heavy price and gotten not very much for it. To make an analogy, a thief who has been able to easily rob a warehouse and gotten away with it will likely hit that place again. A thief who pulled off a heist and got away with some merchandise but also was mauled by guard dogs and left with permanent scars and a limp may decide he doesn’t want any more of that. If news reports are correct, Russia has had well over 100,000 casualties in this war. They will not have gotten away scot-free if a peace deal is reached at this point.
And I admit, I am not a fortune teller. We are all guessing how the future will play out if this or that scenario plays out. I may be wrong.
Because pigs know how to find the truffles.
Certainly run by kleptocrats these days.
Or, maybe they know that they can collect money from US taxpayers like me. It is hard to discern motives.
Today Switzerland took a crucial step toward allowing other countries to re-export Swiss-made armaments to Ukraine.
The relevant committee of the parliament’s lower house on Tuesday adopted a motion that would allow for the re-export of weapons to conflict zones under certain conditions. The initiative was accepted with 14 to 11 votes.
One of the next steps would be for the parliament’s entire lower house to decide.
The motion calls for allowing the Swiss government to revoke non-re-export clauses in agreements with other countries, if the weapons in question are to be shipped to a conflict which has been condemned as violating international law by a two-third majority of the United Nations General Assembly.
Traditionally neutral Switzerland has faced criticism from Germany and Spain over blocking shipments of Swiss-made ammunition to Ukraine.
Is Ukraine a viable nation-state if it loses all its farmland east of the Dneiper River as well as all of its Black Sea coastline?
Not an American state, not the way America is going.
And not Ukraine, with its levels of corruption.
But anyplace willing and able to establish rule of law, property rights, and free markets would be viable with or without natural resources.
Actually, it is on Wikipedia’s list. There was simply a wee computer glitch when Percival clipped the graphic.
Wikipedia’s numbers are from 2020 and they come from the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
WorldTopExports’ numbers are from 2021 and come from an organization called the International Trade Centre (ITC).
Regardless, both sets of numbers are largely comparable, except that in 2021 Australia moved up the list (thanks to a record harvest) and France moved down the list (due to a bad growing season).
I’m used to us losing wars.
Thank you.
Lockheed Martin is up 16% in the last 12 months. Business is booming!
https://www.wsj.com/articles/lockheed-martin-lmt-q4-earnings-report-2022-11674530593
I nominate this for the most foolish and ridiculous suggestion of the year.
I’m trying to figure our some way that you may have been being facetious, and thought that this was somehow funny. I don’t see it.