This from eTurbo News:
The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, has called for
greater focus on donating aid and opening markets for sustainable trade.
Barroso, on Friday proposed that airline passengers in Europe pay a voluntary
surcharge of 1 euro (US$1.26), to help fight poverty in developing countries.
While I oppose surcharges in general, I like this idea. First, it's voluntary, so you can choose whether or not to participate. Second, it's small enough to be painless. Third, it's the right thing to do. My only caveat would be that the worthiness of the idea depends heavily on how the program is structured, exactly how that euro would be put to use, and the percentage of the money that would go to overhead, rather than to the people it's supposed to help. Other than that, why not give people the option?