Not to sound insensitive, but would anyone of these countries ever come to our aid if we had a major catastrophe? I'm thinking No!

When are we going to start doing things to help our country? We have a lot of internal issues here that need to be taken care of. I find this kind of insulting and ridiculous that we somehow find it more necessary to help other countries then our own.

Sweet, I've been waiting on this Syria Turkey Earthquake Bundle!

Snagged

Darks wrote on Mar 1, 2023, 20:17:
Not to sound insensitive, but would anyone of these countries ever come to our aid if we had a major catastrophe? I'm thinking No!

When are we going to start doing things to help our country? We have a lot of internal issues here that need to be taken care of. I find this kind of insulting and ridiculous that we somehow find it more necessary to help other countries then our own.

So how many countries helped out to get revenge for 9/11?

RedEye9 wrote on Mar 1, 2023, 20:24:

Sweet, I've been waiting on this Syria Turkey Earthquake Bundle!

Snagged

Made it to Cris Tales before Steam gave me the There have been too many recent activation attempts from this account or Internet address. Please wait and try your product code again later.

As someone in a country that arguably gets the most foreign aid from the US, I would say it is not as simple as your perception of this being a charitable act. ALL (not almost all) foreign aid comes with quid-pro-quo agreements. For example, the US is considering granting foreign aid to the NUG (National Unity Government) here. This is the shadow government that was elected by our government which was democratic but was deposed in a coup on February 2021. I have been involved with the negotiations as they do not have many fluent English speakers here. The last aid contract states that we will give the US and US Interests (companies) 40% of contracts in regards to our natural resource and energy sector. The money made from this for the agreed upon 5 year contract would yield an amount worth about 10x of the value of the aid to be given. Thus, foreign aid is basically a loan with great PR, which is always paid back IF the forces that the US helps are successful.

Foreign aid is also extracted from the taxes of the American citizen. Historically the public and the government have been in accordance that foreign aid is a net gain for the US public. If you feel strongly that your tax money is spent on aiding foreign nations instead of your own I would suggest you first take a look at your government (local, state, federal) spending expenditures, as well as lobby your local politicians to take an anti-foreign aid stand.

As for this humble bundle, it is not foreign aid, but a charity. Thus you are not forced to pay for it unless you want to donate.

I was hoping this bundle was going to be a lot better than it is, but of the three top "headlining" titles, Humble already gave me two of them in previous monthly bundles. Not remotely interested in Gotham Knights either. The rest......granted there's maybe 3-4 that interest (but by no means essential), but also a number of other previously-bundled games and a ton of indie fillers. So while I appreciate the purpose of this bundle, there's just not a lot of meat in it that's not already in my Steam backlog.

The Saga: Compendium alone is $37 on Amazon.
I'm always amazed with the value of these bundles not to mention that the money is going for a good cause.

wow...thats a great deal. gonna snag that one

A_Thein wrote on Mar 1, 2023, 21:14:
As someone in a country that arguably gets the most foreign aid from the US, I would say it is not as simple as your perception of this being a charitable act. ALL (not almost all) foreign aid comes with quid-pro-quo agreements. For example, the US is considering granting foreign aid to the NUG (National Unity Government) here. This is the shadow government that was elected by our government which was democratic but was deposed in a coup on February 2021. I have been involved with the negotiations as they do not have many fluent English speakers here. The last aid contract states that we will give the US and US Interests (companies) 40% of contracts in regards to our natural resource and energy sector. The money made from this for the agreed upon 5 year contract would yield an amount worth about 10x of the value of the aid to be given. Thus, foreign aid is basically a loan with great PR, which is always paid back IF the forces that the US helps are successful.

Foreign aid is also extracted from the taxes of the American citizen. Historically the public and the government have been in accordance that foreign aid is a net gain for the US public. If you feel strongly that your tax money is spent on aiding foreign nations instead of your own I would suggest you first take a look at your government (local, state, federal) spending expenditures, as well as lobby your local politicians to take an anti-foreign aid stand.

As for this humble bundle, it is not foreign aid, but a charity. Thus you are not forced to pay for it unless you want to donate.

While I welcome and encourage your interesting perspective, Myanmar would barely crack the top 25 countries the U.S. gives foreign aid to... let alone be arguably first.

Darks wrote on Mar 1, 2023, 20:17:
Not to sound insensitive, but would anyone of these countries ever come to our aid if we had a major catastrophe? I'm thinking No!
When are we going to start doing things to help our country? We have a lot of internal issues here that need to be taken care of. I find this kind of insulting and ridiculous that we somehow find it more necessary to help other countries then our own.

The willingness to help others comes from within without any expectations of favors returned. That you can even entertain the thought of "quid pro quo" shows how small of a person you are.

This comment was edited on Mar 2, 2023, 02:27.

I'm thinking the average citizen of Turkey and Syria has orders of magnitude less salary than the US citizen (assuming that's the "our country"). But you can donate your time and money to a local food bank if you are insulted. Maybe vote for new ideas to try to solve these problems. But it doesn't have to be exclusive, you can help humans both at home and abroad. Getting some nice games and other digital content doesn't hurt for sure.

But I gotta say, holding Humble Bundle accountable for the institutional failures of government, that keeps giving me a good laugh, lol.

Not sure how I glanced over this news article earlier. Once I read it and saw what was packaged, quite amazed... Easily gave my $$$s. While Gotham Knights didn't have the best reviews as it's a mostly love it or hate it title, the fact that it was usually 30 bucks on its own was enough for me to jump on this. I also checked all the other titles. I think I only own like 5 others out of the entire bundle...

I'm not sure I feel like I did a good cause since it required an offer that attracted me in order for me to give back, but I'll pretend to feel good about this.

The only people giving anything away here are the developers/publishers of the games in this bundle, same as the Stand With Ukraine bundle last year (which was a better bundle). Anyone buying the bundle is aware of where the money will go, but it isn't a donation by any stretch of the imagination. I'm happy to do it, I get a few games I'd been eyeing for far cheaper than buying them on sale, and maybe my money helps feed or clothe someone who would have gone without otherwise.

Btw, it's been in other bundles before, but if you enjoy tower defense where you also play as a supremely powerful unit on the field, X-morph defense is pretty good. It has a stupid name and an even more dismissable logo, but it's actually worth checking out. The ridiculous level of casual destruction is arresting; the first time I fired a charged shot through a city and watched buildings buckle and nearby ones' windows blow out had me stop playing for a moment in shock at what had happened. It's in this bundle, hidden quite a ways down.

Darks wrote on Mar 1, 2023, 20:17:
Not to sound insensitive, but would anyone of these countries ever come to our aid if we had a major catastrophe? I'm thinking No!

This isn't about "countries" coming to each other's aid. This is about NGOs helping the people in need in these respective countries (Turkey and Syria).

Let me quote from the Humble page...

This bundle supports Direct Relief, International Medical Corps, and Save the Children.

^ These are NGOs which are directly involved in humanitarian aid in the territories affected by the quakes. It's not support for Turkey or Syria and their asshole leaders. It's support for the people.

And if one day the cap blows off of Yellowstone killing hundreds of thousands of Murricans, well, who knows? Maybe Turkish or Syrian NGOs (like the Turkish Red Crescent who have been involved in 78 international disaster relief efforts according to their website) would actually offer help to God's country.
As far as Turkey is concerned, they would maybe even offer aid from the government directly (at least as a symbolic diplomatic gesture). Syria would not, of course.

It seems a bit petty to me to hate on Humble for their supposedly shitty decision to support the "wrong" charity efforts but I hope you do at least realize that this is not (directly) your glorious country coughing up billions to support undeserving shithole countries.
Yes, Humble is a US-based entity belonging to ZiffDavis headquartered in NYC, USA but they are selling to an international audience. While Direct Relief and the International Medical Corps are also US-based, Save the Children is a UK-based NGO.

So, if it is of any consolation: While an American company (Humble) is collecting the money, definitely not all of the money is coming from Americans and not all of it is going to American NGOs.

* REMOVED *

This comment was deleted on Mar 2, 2023, 11:27. Reason: Personal attacks (rule 1)

Darks wrote on Mar 1, 2023, 20:17:
When are we going to start doing things to help our country?

There is an old saying "Charity starts at home". That isn't a nationalistic statement. It literally starts in your home, my home, or anyone else's home.

Darks wrote on Mar 1, 2023, 20:17:
When are we going to start doing things to help our country?

This is a charity donation. Don't want to donate, don't. Want to help here at home? Give to the American Red Cross as I do every year.

Jesus preached comfort to the afflicted, food for the hungry, forgiveness for the sinner, understanding & love for all.

He is the DEFINITION of "Woke".

He died "Broke".

So when Christians spout #GoWokeGoBroke, it makes me wonder if they REALLY want to imitate Christ.

- Father Robert Ballecer

The Flying Penguin wrote on Mar 2, 2023, 12:09:
So when Christians spout #GoWokeGoBroke, it makes me wonder if they REALLY want to imitate Christ.

If there is any demographic that is further from the idea of Christianity, it's American Christians.

I always have a little chuckle when I drink my Guinness and see the Guinness Gives Back "Guinness Stands With America" campaign on the can.
It donates $1 to American charities for every pack of cans bought.

Just not something you see often as an American, foreign corporation doing a charity fundraiser for the USA... especially just in general like that, without a specific cause identified.

$2,768,868 Raised for so far for the humble Türkiye and Syria earthquake relief charities.