Neo-colonialism?

My wife made an interesting point this morning in response to Bono's appearance on "Morning Joe" on MSNBC. Bono had just returned from refugee camps in Jordan and near Somalia ... and said that these huge displacements pose an existential threat to Europe if their refugees were all to be absorbed therein.

He said that the answer to this threat was for the developed world, particularly the United States, to help these areas of the world with economic development ... so that their people will not be tempted to exit their hellholes. We need to show them how to raise themselves through better sanitation, better farming, better governance, better industry and stronger trade. (I'm extrapolating here a little from Bono's comments.) Kinda like a new Marshall Plan.

My wife's observation was that Bono's recommendation of outreach to these underdeveloped areas sounds a lot like what happened a century ago when the European nations engaged in an orgy of colonialism ... which did greatly benefit, at least economically, these areas of the world.

It seems to me that there is at least a germ of truth to her observation. If we listen to Bono and help lift these areas of the world out of their downward spirals, will we then be cursed later on as evil colonialists? The irony is palpable.

Old Europe

For hundreds of years we have opened our shores for many millions of old-Europe emigrants to find a better life here in America.  We have fought many wars (and spilled much blood) for (or against) them while they spent much of their discretionary national incomes over the last sixty years on social welfare and beautiful infrastructure ... instead of their own self defense.  We have provided a super-expensive ICBM/nuclear shield for them throughout the cold war.  We spent considerable Marshall-Plan sums clothing, feeding and rebuilding them after World War II. 

Despite (or because of) their not having to spend very much of their GNPs on national defense, they have instead created a cradle-to-grave welfare culture that has sapped much of their national initiative. We have also spent hundreds of billions funding the U.N. that lavishes much this money on their poobahs' luxuriating in Geneva, Rome and Brussels five-star hotels and restaurants.  And throughout it all, we have listened to their derisive sneers and holier-than-thou preachings with general humility.  Recently we have apparently spent many more hundreds of billions of Federal Reserve dollars (that we clearly don't have) shoring up their banks, see the Yahoo! story.  And Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy are queuing up behind Greece to get their financial rewards from Brussels for their fiscal mismanagement.  And rumor has it that Uncle Sam will be a banker at this porker poker party.

And what has the United States received as recompense for all this selflessness?  Croissants, truffles, Rick Steves' travel logs, and spaghetti carbonara.