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As long as a system like capitalism exists, which literally breeds insecurity (you can lose your job and everything at the drop of a hat) and creates a visible struggle between the owning class and the working class, stuff like this will continue to happen.
Charity has existed for as long as mankind, and it's failed to solve the issue of poverty. Poor countries around the world export food at times of famine because the growers can get more money for it in other markets. Food regularly spoils or is destroyed to maintain prices. Farmers are actually paid to not grow food. The truth of the matter is that we currently possess the technology and means to keep the entire world reasonably fed, but we choose not to do so because of economics. Much like the war on drugs (where we pour more and more money into treating symptoms -- drug abuse -- and not the cause -- why people use drugs) this kind of struggle between the poor countries and richer countries will always exist, until we address the root causes.
Unfortunately, better socioeconomic ideas exist, but as long as organized religion and fundamentalism exist they'll never be feasible. Of course, you may or may not have noticed that in general, poorer countries and peoples tend to be much more religious and supersticious than prosperous ones. It's more of a survival mechanism than anything else, I believe. When you never know where your next meal will come from, it helps to be able to convince yourself there's some higher power at work. It's a hard reality to accept.
You are on the right track, I would say, in that we need to elminate the reasons that these people turn to such desperate acts and fundamentalism, but the roots go much, much deeper than just packing up some crates of bread and shipping them over. These people need to have a reasonable measure of security of their futures and personal safety. If all we do is hand them money, the insecurity has just changed from the fear of one government to the fear of another -- fear of when the handouts will stop.
I would not be against charity in the meantime, of course, as an immediate form of aid, as long as the underlying issues are simultaneuosly [sp?] addressed.
"Ars longa, vita brevis...Art is long, life is short."
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