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This has been making the rounds on Facebook lately (a couple of people
that I know have cut and pasted it onto their wall):
Shame on
you America: the only country where we have homeless without shelter,
children going to bed without eating, elderly going without needed meds,
and mentally ill without treatment - yet we have a benefit for the
people of Haiti on 12 TV stations.
My first reaction was one of mild disgust, but the more I thought about,
the more I understood the position (and yeah, maybe the title of this
entry is a little over the top). I may not agree with the sentiment, but I think I
understand it. Sure, some people may have posted it because they're
xenophobic, but I think the majority of people who posted it are making
more of a commentary on the state of domestic affairs in the U.S. rather than
making a statement about aid to other countries; it's says more about us
than it does about them.
However, that being said, the comparison between what we do to help our
homeless, hungry, elderly and mentally ill and what
we do for other countries is a bit off base (and I won't even
bother with the "only country" part--that's false). The Hope
for Haiti Now benefit came together because of a catastrophic event, not
because of economic conditions or overall standards of living (i.e.,
homelessness, hunger, etc). And if you look back into our recent past,
you'll see that we've had three other major benefits in the past decade
and all three were in response to a similar catastrophic event: the
tsunami in Asia in 2004, Hurricane Katrina and 9/11. Those events are
far better comparisons, but, obviously, such comparisons would put a big
hole in the Shame On You America finger-wagging position.
The part of the posting that I do agree with is the implied idea,
or rather fact, that we don't do enough for the homeless, the hungry
children, the elderly and the mentally ill. And to take that another
step, we don't do enough worldwide, let alone do enough for those
particular Americans.
So my answer to Shame On You America is this: We should be helping in
all cases. Catastrophic. Day-to-day. Home and abroad. |
2000-2010