"Where have all the good men gone? And where are all the Gods?"
I know that we're only at the 48 hour mark on this tragedy that used to be a fine, historical city on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. I know that the US is the biggest responder in international tragedies (like the SE Asian tsunami).
After this time (and a Google search) there are no signs that Europe is doing any more than parroting the news articles that the AP, UPI and NEWS.COM.COM puts out.
Where is the hew and cry from Europe seeking aid for the poor folks that are flooded out of their homes and aren't likely to be able to return for 3 - 4 months, if at all? Where are the international aid agencies that were tripping over themselves to toss money and supplies at the tsunami victims last Christmas? *waits for answers* *crickets chirp* Got that.
America is supposed to be the aid giver to the world. When America can use some assistance (regardless of whether that assistance is strictly needed), then the rest of the world gets quiet.
My wife and I were discussing this last night. If America were to strip all of the monies that we're putting into foreign governments, humanitarian aid, international relief, loans to other countries and sunk all of those billions of dollars back into America, how much better off could America be? How much greater (read: more prosperous) would this country be? How bad off would the remainder of the world become in the absence of the money that the US puts into the global society?
I think it's interesting that Americans are blasted for not giving enough (when many Americans and the American government gave plenty) during the tsunami crisis last Christmas. Now it's time to blast the rest of the world. When the world needs help, they first look to America with their hands held out. Now, America is looking for the rest of the world, not with a hand out for help, but with a pleading look - for others to acknowledge that it is time for the generosity of the American people to be acknowledged and repaid with whatever means are available, each according to their own capacity.
I'm not arguing that America should go back to the pre-WWII isolationist policies that caused us more trouble than they saved us. I'm saying that America has bailed out others through various tragedies over the years, now it's time for everyone else to step up show what they are made of.
-- "To see what is right, and not to do it, is want of courage or of principle."
Confucius