where is all of my money going? Essay

My Definition: A social problem is an aspect of society that people are concerned about and would like changed. Social problems are divided into objective and subjective elements. An objective element is the existence of a social condition and a subjective element is the belief that a particular social condition is harmful to society as a whole or harmful to a segment of society and that it should and can be changed.

As citizens of the United States of America we must pay taxes to the government. The government takes these taxes and distributes them among different areas to fund each are; one of the highest percentages of spending goes to defense. The whopping amount of around 610 billion dollars makes the United States’ military the largest in the world, so large that its funding out-weighs the next seven highest spending countries. The problem with this is that the military does not really solve the large amount of very important domestic affairs; in fact we barely see the fruits of it. There are many reasons why we should cut down on the percentage spent on defense and focus more on other areas.

People could argue that since we are donating such a low percent of our GDP it would make sense for the US to increase aid levels. This would also be an argument for anyone that has certain religious beliefs. In the article A Call To Virtue, the author, Jeffrey Sachs shares one of the Pope’s various messages, “The urgent core of Francis’ message, which is the message of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, challenges this American idea by proclaiming that the path to happiness lies not solely or mainly through the defense of rights but through the exercise of virtues, most notably justice and charity.” In some religions people believe it is morally right to help through charity to find happiness. Some people also argue that foreign aid levels should decrease because of the economic crisis that the US is in. The United States current debt is over eighteen trillion dollars right now according to usdebtclock.org. People believe that by decreasing foreign aid levels it will take away some debt. If the levels were to maintain there would not be worry about creating more debt by increasing levels and the US would also not have to worry about pulling out and not giving enough. Another argument is that aid should be unconditional and should be given to whoever needs it in time of crisis no matter

     Many of Americans today do not take the time to realize that our nation is little by little falling apart. Our leaders are corrupt, our environment is being destroyed, and there are thousands of children being born each day. The three major social problems facing the American citizens in the 21st century are births to unmarried woman, being able to trust or government and or leaders, and lastly destroying the environment.

A social problem is an issue that is defined by society to be exactly that; an issue. This can range from issues such as murder; which is commonly agreed on in Australia, or to issues such as

Many skeptics challenge the reasoning for investing so much money into helping so many other countries when that money could instead help us improve internal affairs. After all, foreign aid spending has increased to $50 billion a year today, which could be put towards funding education to ensure that more kids go to college and possibly affecting the innovation of the future(Morris). Giving more than you receive is nice, but when it involves a country 's financial crisis, maybe it 's best if Santa cuts back some of this year 's presents. And although the argument may be valid, lending out a helping hand can create more allies than enemies to help us in return when we need it. In fact, foreign aid only accounts for 0.5 percent of the federal budget (Stearn). Compared to all the other matters at hand that the government is worrying about, the amount of spending put into aiding poorer countries is positive in both a moral aspect and a political aspect.

If the money used for going to war was used on things that are beneficial to our own people we would still be able to maintain what we need through trade with those who are willing. By using this money on our own country we could spend it on things that are actually necessary, like college and social security. According to the text, “American citizens and troops would be safer if the US government put all of its focus on its own security, rather than foreign affairs.” (Source #3) Despite the last point being relevant in some situations, it is more important that we help those who are not capable of getting the help they deserve in the place they used to know as

The American people all consider this aspect of our country by far the most important. They consider killing our enemies far more important than, for example, their children's education and future or the stability of the suffering veterans that have endured war. They consider seeking revenge for the tragedy that happened fifteen years ago more important than medicine and helping the sick, the poor, the homeless, the suffering, the American citizens that need help. The government needs to focus on America first, and then think about seeking revenge for the lives lost on 9/11. However, the exact opposite happens in the government’s budget spending. 53.7% of America’s spending goes to the military while only 6.3% goes towards education (Federal Spending: Where Does the Money Go). 598.5 billion dollars goes to the war in the Middle East every year; America gives more money to their military than China, Saudi Arabia, Great Britain, Russia, Japan, India, Germany, France, Italy, and South Korea combined (Defense Budget by Country). The American government spends their money on an overpolitasized war while they could spend it on education. Education leads to better jobs and a higher job growth. Better jobs will lead to less crime since most criminals turn to crime in search of money. Less crime makes America safer for obvious

Ever had that one friend? The one who tries to help, but no matter how hard he tries, he just aggravates the situation. This friend, Steve, insists he is helping, and those around, too, would support that he is indeed helping. But Steve is actually worsening the circumstances. He is like countries who provide foreign aid to less developed countries. Foreign aid, defined as “the international transfer of capital, goods, or services from a country or international organization for the benefit of the recipient country or its population,” can be military, economic, or humanitarian (“Foreign”). It is often granted to less developed countries in order to evoke government reforms or to stimulate economic growth. However, foreign aid neither elicits government reform, nor does it consistently and reliably stimulate economic growth; therefore, the United States should discontinue providing foreign economic aid.

President Johnson stated during his speech, “Our aim is not only to relieve the symptom of poverty, but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it.” His goal was to create programs that would increase self-sufficiency and eliminate the need of government handouts. Fifty years comes along from the day this speech was delivered and many began to criticize, blame or praise the outcome of it. Poverty continues to be a problem that has not been completely resolved and is a hot topic in debates, articles, politics, etc. Those who disagree that this war has not ended but note improvement base their facts on the money invested into

There are a few key points to consider when determining if something is a social problem. Some elements of a social problem may be objective and some may be subjective. The first two objective points are first that there must be some existence of a social condition, or a situation that someone has in society. Second that problems are recognized either through the things we see, or through things we hear through the media (radio, television, newspapers etc.). Some subjective elements of social problems are that: the issue is harmful to either society as whole, or a particular group within society, and change needs to occur. Ultimately,

Should America be morally obligated to give foreign aid with such problems within its own borders? According to www.state.gov under the foreign assistance budget tab, the United States is slotted in 2015 for $46.2 billion. That is 1% of the budget. That aid goes to assisting world hunger, helping governments form a democratic government, as well military training and weapons. In a quote by Secretary Kerry (Apr. 8): "When you consider that the American people pay just one penny of every tax dollar for the 46.2 billion in this request ... when it comes to the State Department and USAID, taxpayers are getting an extraordinary return on their investment.” Is it wrong to assist mankind? No. Should we focus first on our own people with the statistics given previously? Yes. Imagine what the citizens of the United States could give to the world if we were well fed leading to better health, formally educated, and had the food security to benefit others across the

A social problem is any condition or behavior that has negative consequences for large numbers of people and that is generally recognized as a condition or behavior that needs to be addressed. Social issue is a problem that influences a considerable number of the individuals within a society. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's social issue is the source of a conflicting opinion on the

A social problem, is “a general factor that effects and damages society”. It can be used to describe an issue or a problem within a certain group of people or an area in the world. Examples of contemporary social problems today include anti-social behaviour, drug abuse, and sexual abuse. Poverty is an example of a social problem that exists all over the world, and to different extents. In the UK, poverty has effected at least a third of the population, as shown by the Office of National Statistics, providing evidence that it is a massive social problem in the country. Tameside has a big poverty problem. 1 in 4 children in Tameside are born into poverty, and workers in Tameside earn significantly less than other workers in the rest of the North-West area. In addition, Tameside has the largest proportion of people claiming unemployment benefits compared to the rest of the North West of England.

The social issues that are currently happening in today 's society are children in poverty, child labor, and child hunger.