Strange Times
photo courtesy of Digital Globe.Viewing the Katrina carnage and hearing of the gruesome stories in NO really leaves me dumbfounded that something like this can happen in the US. While the rescue mission was a failure, the area affected was the size of Great Britain! It's certainly strange times we are living and this disaster just drives home the point that nobody is safe anywhere.
I'm also fascinated that some claim that NO doesn't need charity b/c the US is the richest country in the world. Perhaps those same people would be astounded at the level of poverty many Americans live in. Poor people are poor people. Politics need to be put aside, and everyone needs to forget nationalities and have some humanity. I certainly urge anyone who can to donate money to help these poor people. It's great to see countries like Iran and Cuba offering aid for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Hopefully it will make us Americans realize that we are not a hegemonic island superpower with unlimited power. Each country needs each other in times of chaos, suffering, and abject poverty.
The Big Easy will never be the same. Carpe Diem to you all.
2 Comments:
Who are we to judge suffering - suffering has no hierarchy.
8:03 AM
Pround Mr. Drake, I remember many people's reaction at IC when they saw the photos, "is that Africa? India?" No one even thought that it could possibly be the US of all places. Then of course came the doubt that the US gov't with all their money, etc. could ever let this happen to their own people at home. I guess my point is that people are always assuming things about the US, for good or bad, as if they know it. When you ask a US citizen, especially someone like Drake and I from poor small towns, or those from other poor areas, you realize that there are still many parts of this great, vast country that aren't any better prepared for certain shocks than they were in colonial times. There is no this is the US and it should be this, the US is just like any other country in the world, we are succeptable to natural disaster, attacks, starvation and poverty, in the same way we are privy to such benefits as equal opportunity, access to health care and medical treatments, and many civil freedoms. This is the need for people to see the truth instead of believing lies...go live in the US and then you can have an open ended opinion from your perspective and for Americans, same vice-versa. Khalas.
1:35 AM
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