Thursday, September 01, 2005
America is a third world country
I need to vent. Being a news junkie and with constant coverage of the situation in New Orleans, I am freaking out. Its unbelievable that even after days of the deluge, there has been NO relief for those affected. The citizens have been in a confined stadium. No food or water in 48 hours after the storm. I am not sure if there still has been any, because those smug bastards on network news would surely have jumped at the chance to show some relief work. Deliberate down playing of the number of the dead. No relief!!!!!!!!!!! Evacuations have been hap hazard and pitifully low. No attempt at bringing order. There are no relief camps set up anywhere. No tents no nothing! No plans!
And now they are whining about looting and people taking pot shots but they are desperate. They know nobody gives a shit!. What if the people in there had been white??? let's face it this is the ugly face of American racism. Even in India relief work is not so slow. Don't we send in food within 24 hours with the air force? Even if not adequate, I mean we ARE better than this. And I am so angry, why ??? because this is America. Its not supposed to be like this. They are supposed to do better. Whatever your politics, if America fails, what is left? I hate Bush and the Iraq war, but still the idea that there was a place on this earth where fundamental human dignity is recognised was always precious. And that beacon was America. I am angry because I feel betrayed. Naiive ? Yes. But that the US of A could allow such mismanagement and suffering to take place in their own soil is really hard to take. AND SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY ARE BLACK. NO QUESTION.
why will they not riot. I would if I was hungry and hopeless! Wouldn't you? You would not, only if you had hope.
I have been reading a lotof blogs and its not uncommon to read"shoot the looters at sight" " like Chicago needs more homeless people wandering about". This is how third world countries deal with problems - beat the shit out of poor people and hope they disappear. But of course they don't and ultimately we are all in it together. Welcome to the real world. I wish I could be happy to see the decline of America. But I can't crow. Its heart breaking. This is the real world. And I am obsolete.
Who remembers the fuss USA created about the geneva Convention when a few US soldiers captured by the Iraqis were photographed. But now ...let's get real and shoot S&M porn films with Iraqi prisoners. The Geneva Convention is bullshit!
I guess if you have no compasion for poor foreigners you ultimately have no compassion for poor folks in your backyard either. Those who believe in human dignity are not selective. You either have respect and compassion or you don't. America has turned its back on its constitution.
And now they are whining about looting and people taking pot shots but they are desperate. They know nobody gives a shit!. What if the people in there had been white??? let's face it this is the ugly face of American racism. Even in India relief work is not so slow. Don't we send in food within 24 hours with the air force? Even if not adequate, I mean we ARE better than this. And I am so angry, why ??? because this is America. Its not supposed to be like this. They are supposed to do better. Whatever your politics, if America fails, what is left? I hate Bush and the Iraq war, but still the idea that there was a place on this earth where fundamental human dignity is recognised was always precious. And that beacon was America. I am angry because I feel betrayed. Naiive ? Yes. But that the US of A could allow such mismanagement and suffering to take place in their own soil is really hard to take. AND SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY ARE BLACK. NO QUESTION.
why will they not riot. I would if I was hungry and hopeless! Wouldn't you? You would not, only if you had hope.
I have been reading a lotof blogs and its not uncommon to read"shoot the looters at sight" " like Chicago needs more homeless people wandering about". This is how third world countries deal with problems - beat the shit out of poor people and hope they disappear. But of course they don't and ultimately we are all in it together. Welcome to the real world. I wish I could be happy to see the decline of America. But I can't crow. Its heart breaking. This is the real world. And I am obsolete.
Who remembers the fuss USA created about the geneva Convention when a few US soldiers captured by the Iraqis were photographed. But now ...let's get real and shoot S&M porn films with Iraqi prisoners. The Geneva Convention is bullshit!
I guess if you have no compasion for poor foreigners you ultimately have no compassion for poor folks in your backyard either. Those who believe in human dignity are not selective. You either have respect and compassion or you don't. America has turned its back on its constitution.
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"I guess if you have no compasion for poor foreigners you ultimately have no compassion for poor folks in your backyard either" very well said!
E-mail id delivered to destination :-)
Me good, chilling as usual! How's work?
E-mail id delivered to destination :-)
Me good, chilling as usual! How's work?
gypsy, i disgree with your conclusions. as a friend of mine ws saying yesterday, if the posh fox hills neighbourhood in los angeles was under threat, home to numerous black celebrity basketball players and generally upper class blacks, the response would have been very different. no, class is what is at stake here, and whatever bush might be, i do not think he is a racist man, given the fact that he has one of the most diverse cabinets ever in american history. incompetence and racism are not the same thing, and if we harp on the racism angle, we fail to focus on the very real lacunae in the system.
The lack of compassion for poor foreigners, I think stems from widespread ignorance about any news beyond the local burger-eating contest winner.
However, the pathetic lack of support and the scenes that play themselves out on the news channels are shocking to say the least. That doesn't seem like America, where relief is usually quick and efficient.
I don't think you can completely ignore the race factor, it's right there in the pictures....and I wonder how quick the response would have been if Texas had been affected....
Incidentally.... if you have thousands of people who have had no food or relief in days... and a good percentage of these people have guns.... that is a terrifying situation
However, the pathetic lack of support and the scenes that play themselves out on the news channels are shocking to say the least. That doesn't seem like America, where relief is usually quick and efficient.
I don't think you can completely ignore the race factor, it's right there in the pictures....and I wonder how quick the response would have been if Texas had been affected....
Incidentally.... if you have thousands of people who have had no food or relief in days... and a good percentage of these people have guns.... that is a terrifying situation
Maam, linked this post in one of my news clips :-)http://newsinlimerick.blogspot.com/2005/09/bush-woos-katrina.html
Hi guys,
another long weekend, sojust saw the comments.
Thalassa: let us agree to disagree. I think race IS a major factor along with incompetence. Yes class matters, but aid would definitely have reached faster if those in the stadium had been white. Also, it was interesting that very few black victims have been interviewed, when most news stories centre around the sound bytes and witness stories.
Rubbersoul: where relief is usualy quick and efficient. actually you don't really know that, you assume it , simply bacause a disaster on this scale has not happened before.
Aparna: very cool. Thanks! :) Will you be in Cal for the pujas?
another long weekend, sojust saw the comments.
Thalassa: let us agree to disagree. I think race IS a major factor along with incompetence. Yes class matters, but aid would definitely have reached faster if those in the stadium had been white. Also, it was interesting that very few black victims have been interviewed, when most news stories centre around the sound bytes and witness stories.
Rubbersoul: where relief is usualy quick and efficient. actually you don't really know that, you assume it , simply bacause a disaster on this scale has not happened before.
Aparna: very cool. Thanks! :) Will you be in Cal for the pujas?
Absolutely agree. Bush is just focussed on the Iraq war, and the 'Islam Problem'. He's got his Presdential post, he doesn't need to care about the American people.
Also, he has no right to ban abortions, or Plan B. Thats like foisting your own beliefs forcefully on others.
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Also, he has no right to ban abortions, or Plan B. Thats like foisting your own beliefs forcefully on others.
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