One Laptop Per Child

[altonb1]

Originally posted by: Xylitol
I'd rather give those countries food before laptops. Plus - I don't want to give any money to foreign till my local problems and national problems
are solved with my tax money

I think this is key--I agree that other countries may need assistance as well, but I certainly do not believe that sending a laptop to an African child is the answer. We are quickly falling into a financial crisis in this country--mortgage companies are in trouble, credit card companies are beginning to have the issue, too, and the entire country is feeling a pinch.

I'm not going to buy a laptop for some kid overseas (esp. a low-end unit like this) when I think the money can be better used on our own people.

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: flashbacck

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Besides... If you really wanted to help out starving kids in Africa, I'd recommend buying them GUNS. Perhaps they might stand a chance at defending themselves against the warlords that are terrorizing the area.

Most of the relief organizations like CARE and the Christian Children's Fund seem to overlook this in their ads. They spends millions of donated dollars to rebuild devastated villages, only to have them pillaged by the warlords again a few months later.

I was under the impression that guns were already readily available in Africa. Anyone know?

Yeah... there are plenty of guns, but the wrong folks have them

 

[flashbacck]

Originally posted by: Xylitol
I'd rather give those countries food before laptops. Plus - I don't want to give any money to foreign till my local problems and national problems
are solved with my tax money

That's a legitimate concern and a I understand your position but, I would just like to point out that there will always be local and national problems. There will always be crime and corruption, democrats and republicans will never agree, and hippies will always be dirty and smell.

The living conditions of third world countries however, could be greatly improved. I also do not consider spending money or effort on building infrastructure in africa as charity. Rather, I consider it an investment. A modernized africa would be a huge importer and producer of products. I think this could only help our economy. Lastly, it might take decades but africa will eventually modernize, if we (and I assume you're american) do not help africa modernize, someone else will. I would much rather have a modern africa be indebted to us for helping them grow, than indebted to someone else.

 

[Cyco]

Aww, I was hoping that it would be that I buy one and one of my children get one as well. They don't have a laptop, and they can use it for schoolwork and whatnot. Meh, guess another case of providing for other countries before we help ourselves. Oh well.

 

[Throckmorton]

Originally posted by: Cyco
Aww, I was hoping that it would be that I buy one and one of my children get one as well. They don't have a laptop, and they can use it for schoolwork and whatnot. Meh, guess another case of providing for other countries before we help ourselves. Oh well.

You can actually buy your kid a laptop probably. A poor village in Bangladesh cannot. It's not providing for other countries before we help themselves. It's helping those who need help the most, in our OWN country, humanity.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: altonb1

Originally posted by: Xylitol
I'd rather give those countries food before laptops. Plus - I don't want to give any money to foreign till my local problems and national problems
are solved with my tax money

I think this is key--I agree that other countries may need assistance as well, but I certainly do not believe that sending a laptop to an African child is the answer. We are quickly falling into a financial crisis in this country--mortgage companies are in trouble, credit card companies are beginning to have the issue, too, and the entire country is feeling a pinch.

I'm not going to buy a laptop for some kid overseas (esp. a low-end unit like this) when I think the money can be better used on our own people.

heh yea its pretty messed up when our kids can afford laptops but not healthcare

 

[Cyco]

Originally posted by: Throckmorton

Originally posted by: Cyco
Aww, I was hoping that it would be that I buy one and one of my children get one as well. They don't have a laptop, and they can use it for schoolwork and whatnot. Meh, guess another case of providing for other countries before we help ourselves. Oh well.

You can actually buy your kid a laptop probably. A poor village in Bangladesh cannot. It's not providing for other countries before we help themselves. It's helping those who need help the most, in our OWN country, humanity.

Somebody's sarcasm meter is broken.

 

[Xylitol]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: altonb1

Originally posted by: Xylitol
I'd rather give those countries food before laptops. Plus - I don't want to give any money to foreign till my local problems and national problems
are solved with my tax money

I think this is key--I agree that other countries may need assistance as well, but I certainly do not believe that sending a laptop to an African child is the answer. We are quickly falling into a financial crisis in this country--mortgage companies are in trouble, credit card companies are beginning to have the issue, too, and the entire country is feeling a pinch.

I'm not going to buy a laptop for some kid overseas (esp. a low-end unit like this) when I think the money can be better used on our own people.

heh yea its pretty messed up when our kids can afford laptops but not healthcare

Yea - I'd rather give kids (ie: orphans) in our country the basic needs of healthcare like one dentist appointment / year or basic vaccines such as hep a/b shots and tetanus shots.

 

[FP]

Did anyone actually read the mission statement of the program?

The entire point of this program is to educate. To change the world for the better through children. It is about giving children all over the world the ability to learn and the resources to experience things they would never experience. Knowledge is power and giving these kids the ability to obtain knowledge will pay off in the long run. You want to change a country? you do it through the children by making them think in ways other than their immediate experience. People in the US and other modern countries really take education for granted. What if you lived your life never even having the opportunity to open a book?

I don't condone giving a child a laptop in lieu of water or health care but I do think that our current "thinking" needs to change. Changing a country by throwing money at it doesn't fix every problem and often creates more problems. You need to empower the inhabitants of the country to enact change from within.

Healthcare and poverty in our country is a completely different concern.

These laptops were designed for children around the world, not just 3rd world countries.

 

[Soundmanred]

MISSION:
Most of the nearly two?billion children in the developing world are inadequately educated, or receive no education at all, but that cannot be solved with a cheap laptop. One in three does not complete the fifth grade, but that cannot be solved with a cheap laptop.

The individual and societal consequences of this chronic global crisis are profound, but that cannot be solved with a cheap laptop. Children are consigned to poverty and isolation?just like their parents?never knowing what the light of learning could mean in their lives, but that cannot be solved with a cheap laptop. At the same time, their governments struggle to compete in a rapidly evolving, global information economy, hobbled by a vast and increasingly urban underclass that cannot support itself, much less contribute to the commonweal, because it lacks the tools to do so, but that cannot be solved with a cheap laptop.