The world situation through my eyes!

The present world through my eyes!

As the years go by I find myself reflecting more and more about what I have experienced and seen over the years in the 7 countries I was fortunate enough to work and live in, and experience the languages and cultures of some of those countries. The conclusion is that we all have the same objective in life, no matter where one lives, what language we speak, we all have the same problems, issues and worries, the only thing that separates us from one another is the language and the distance between us.
The other important factors are the governments, which stipulate the rules and laws under which we are governed and have to live according to. That, of course, is necessary in order to control the population and to maintain order and law. Unfortunately, in many cases, it’s the governments creating unrest, chaos, and poverty.
I get it, all governments want the best for their population, but in most places, it’s all about power, ego, left vs. right, property, one political party fighting against the other, land possession and religion.
It’s not about what is best for the people, it’s always what’s best for the political objective, which is not always in the best interest of the population.

It all becomes a personal battle over who is right and who is wrong. 

When you look at the situation of Israel vs. Palestine, for example, do you realize that this has been going on since 1897? and ironically it started in Basel, Switzerland
[caption id="attachment_2749" align="alignright" width="200"]Basel, Switzerland 1897[/caption]
(First Zionist Congress (Hebrew: הקונגרס הציוני הראשון‎) was the inaugural congress of the Zionist Organization (ZO) (to become the World Zionist Organization (WZO) in 1960) held in Basel (Basle), Switzerland, from August 29 to August 31, 1897. 208 delegates and 26 press correspondents attended the event.)
It is absolutely mind-boggling the fighting and killing going on for over 120 years in that region of the world, and up to today, no end in sight!¨
You may read the entire history by clicking on the link below in case you need to refresh your memory or to understand the source of the conflict.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Israeli–Palestinian_conflict

Nobody wants to give in; don’t they realize at the end of the day everyone only gets a 36-inch x 8 feet space to rest in?!  This fighting and killing are all about territorial rights.
The same problem with Russia, it’s all about greed, power, and ego.  The size of Russia is 17,100’000 sq km in size and has a population of 144.5 million!! more than enough land to support another 144 million or more, but they had to invade Crimea, and now also have their eyes on Ukraine, all due to greed and power!
Then, on the other hand, you have a country like India whom just inaugurated the world’s tallest statue 182 m (600ft) high at a cost of $430 million!? They just launched their manned space mission in March 2018 to the moon at a cost of $1.4 billion!? 
They can’t even provide shelter and nourishment for the 21.1% of the 1.3 billion people living in the country. Less than 20% of the rural population of India have access to clean water. Why are they going to the moon?? To overpopulate and pollute that planet as well?? isn’t this one enough?
No wonder Trump refused to be a part of the Paris agreement? going to the moon and building statues instead of controlling your environment and pollution, feeding and housing your fellow citizens first, really?
[caption id="attachment_2750" align="alignleft" width="212"]Palm Islands in Dubai[/caption] [caption id="attachment_2752" align="alignleft" width="247"]Desert Ski Resort in Dubai[/caption]
 In Dubai the built Palm Island in the ocean at a cost of $12 billion, they build an indoor ski resort at the cost of $400 million. How about building housing for all the refugees from Iraq, Libya, Eritrea, SriLanka etc instead of them relocating into a totally strange social and environmental climate?!  
Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is supporting their citizen’s by giving them $13 billion in handouts to offset the increasing costs of living, and state employees will receive monthly payments of $266 as of 2018... They even announced plans to cut back perks to the royal family members. Then, on the other hand, they are killing and starving people in Yemen! Who can make sense out of all this??

The U.S. Gives Financial Aid to 96% of All Countries

An issue that really occupies my thoughts these days is the immigration situation in the USA.
It really comes back the same issue I mentioned above, government abuse and mishandling of funds caused by political influence, corruption, and lies.
The U.S. disbursed $33.2 billion—$19 billion in economic assistance to 184 countries and $14.2 billion in military assistance to 142 countries. Out of the top six U.S. foreign aid recipients, five of them were Muslim countries. And yet it seems the U.S. can’t buy a good press in the Middle East.
These budget cuts proposals where submitted by the Trump administration in May 2018, I am not certain that they have been implemented as of today. 
The  Administration’s FY2018 foreign assistance request would have reduced funding for every country and regional program in Latin America and the Caribbean. 
The FY2018 request included $460 million to continue the U.S. Strategy for Engagement in Central America, which would have been a $240 million (34%) cut compared to FY2017. The strategy is designed to address the underlying conditions driving irregular migration from Central America by promoting good governance, economic prosperity, and improved security.The request included $46.3 million for ElSalvador (a 36% reduction), $80.7 million for Guatemala (a 43% reduction), $67.9 million for Honduras (a 29% reduction), and $2 million combined for Belize, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama (a 90%reduction). It also included $263.2 million for the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI;a 20% reduction). The request would have shifted the balance of aid for Central America toward security efforts and away from governance and economic growth programs. ????
Colombia would remain the single largest recipient of U.S. assistance in Latin America and the Caribbean under the Administration’s FY2018 request; however, aid would have fallen to $251.4 million—a $135 million (35%) reduction compared to FY2017. Colombia has received significant amounts of U.S. assistance to support counternarcotics and counterterrorism efforts since FY2000. The FY2018 request included funds to support the implementation of Colombia’s new counternarcotics strategy, including eradication and interdiction efforts. The request also included funds to support the implementation of the Colombian government’s peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) by fostering reconciliation within Colombian society, expanding state presence to regions historically under FARC control, and supporting rural economic development in marginalized communities.
Haiti, which has received high levels of aid for many years as a result of its significant development challenges, would have remained the second-largest recipient of U.S. assistance in the region in FY2018 under the Administration’s request. U.S. assistance increased significantly after Haiti was struck by a massive earthquake in 2010 but has gradually declined from those elevated levels. The Administration’s FY2018 request would have provided $157.5 million to Haiti to improve food security, foster economic and educational opportunities, develop the rule of law, and address health challenges—particularly HIV/AIDS. This would have been a $27 million (15%) cut compared to FY2017.
Mexico would have received $87.7 million of assistance under the FY2018 request, which would have been a $51 million (37%) cut compared to FY2017. Mexico traditionally had not been a major U.S. aid recipient due to its middle-income status, but it began receiving larger amounts of assistance through the Mérida Initiative in FY2008.

After reading these facts I ask myself “what happened to all that money?”

As you can see from the list above, the United States supports most of the countries where these people are leaving from in order to gain entrance to  the United States, besides supporting and subsidizing the countries they come from they now expect to enter the  US and take advantage of all the social benefits that a legally admitted immigrant  or refugee, after waiting for months, sometimes for years, would receive?!

These people are not leaving their country because of war, turmoil or social unrest, they are leaving because their government is unable to provide them with jobs, security and social benefits, because the government can’t control, root out and abolish the drug lords and gangs causing these people to leave in the first place and because the governments are corrupt.

It is a shame the human race is unable to recognize and appreciate the miracles, the creation of life, and all the beauty of this planet, from one continent to another, the miracles of our own creations and how the planet provides us, the human race, with water and food to survive. Only for this race to screw it all up because of hate, greed, and power.

I don’t have the solution, and obviously, no one else has one, and even if there was a solution, it wouldn’t change the way this human race is living and behaving on this planet of ours.
After seeing and experiencing just some of the worlds issues, I decided to give my humble opinion about it, to which some of you probably don’t agree with me or you may have another point of view, of which I would love to hear from you.
I love North America, where I spent 40 years of my life and I love my native country Switzerland, where most of my family members live, but I realized that the further you are from where you started the closer you get to where you belong!
That is why I am back to where I started out of, here in Switzerland, watching it all unfold for the rest of my life.
My contribution to this planet can only be a tiny part, such as cleaning the lakeside of contaminating, harmful stuff near my hometown, teaching my grandson to treat his environment with respect, writing articles and blogs that may, or may not, reach an audience in order to create awareness and hopefully make a few people take part in something to make the planet a better place.
Yours truly Ulrich Koepf