Haiti, America, Priorities

This American spectacular of helping Haiti is generous. The tragedy there is terrible. It is wonderful that Haiti and its people are receiving the help they are. I believe we are raised to believe in helping others. I also believe that many of us help others for reasons that blind us to helping out poverty-stricken people in the United States of America. As of a couple of weeks ago, America spent over $300 million helping out Haiti. That is a lot of money to spend on another country, when the money is needed in America to help out America, particularly now, don’t you think?

There are hundreds of Iraqui war veterans without homes (this also occurred in the 1970’s when soldiers returned home from the Viet Nam conflict, can we learn ANYTHING from killing others as a means to solving problems?). Others are homeless because they have lost their jobs due to the ignorance of President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and Secretary of State Condelezza Rice, by causing the Iraq War. This war cost Americans billions of dollars. What was the reason for this war? Anyone? If a small portion of this money would’ve been spent to capture Osma Bin Laden, as President Bush said he was setting out to do, shortly after 9/11, America would be economically in better shape than it is today.

There are also other Americans who live in poverty because of other circumstances. Although American Indian reservations like Pine Ridge, which has lost people to starvation and the cold weather because of lack of resources to buy space heaters, stoves, food, etc. I have been confronted by others, primarily Native American people, who have told me that by “feeling sorry” for Native Americans, I am feeding into their needs, when they should be learning how to help themselves out.

It doesn’t matter to me whether I’m feeding into their needs, or not, what matters to me is that thousands of Native Americans are suffering poverty and other problems because many Americans have this shaded notion that helping people in other countries is helpful to these people as well as to themselves. To grab a bunch of Haitian kids and smuggle them out of Haiti to give them “good” homes in America is ignorance. Possibly overcome by the emotion of loss in Haiti, many Americans have bent over backwards, to use a cliche, to help Haitians out.

Meanwhile, thousands of Americans are in similar need. Why doesn’t John Travolta fly a plane full of space heaters, toilet paper, food, blankets, clothing, Church of Scientology people, etc. to Pine Ridge? Why? How many of you can answer that question? It certainly would be helpful to people on this Rez, similar to the help Haitians are receiving from Mr. Travolta’s mission to Haiti.

The fine point of this rant is that we need to, as a people, gather together to help out Americans in need, before we pour our emotions and hearts into helping out people in other countries. What will happen if we don’t, we will be looking to Haiti one day for their help. Do you want your children and grandchildren to have that experience? I certainly don’t.

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