"It says a lot about my fellow Americans when an article about a massive tragic event becomes fodder for political bashing, classism, and racism, as well as attempts at humor. And so many wonder why we have developed an image of imperial arrogance around the world.Compassion and community are foreign concepts to many Americans. We have developed into a nation of greedy, self-centered nationalists, and then complain when the rest of the world resists anything we say or do.
"This tragedy was about people: Many thousands of people are dead or injured. Babies buried under rubble. Old men crushed under rock and cement. Old women suffocated under tons of dirt. Children who probably had played games like any other children in the world crushed to death. Men and women who were mothers and fathers lost forever. Those who lived have to dig all those who died out. They must live knowing that those they loved dearly died unexpectedly and possibly painfully.
"Please stop commenting on tragedies like they are entertainment. They aren't. Imagine your own family if this were to occur to them, imagine your feelings if you discovered their lifeless bodies with your shovel. America, please find empathy and sympathy, or we are lost. "
-- NewRevolution, reprinted from the comments section of the New Haven Register online.
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As someone who knows people who nearly died in Haiti, I completely get the author's thoughts. My friends miraculously emerged from the first floor of their five-story apartment building, as it crumbled around them. We did not know if they survived, but all five did. Another family we know adopted twins from Haiti. The orphanage they were adopted from is expecting many babies to die soon for lack of formula and water.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the articles, look at the pictures, I weep. These are real people, real tragedies, and yes, real miracles. We must not forget that our fellow man is suffering greatly, even as we eat a warm meal and sleep in a warm bed. I certainly can't.
Great post. so true.
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