In the Congo as of today there has been civil war 4 million dead and dying a remnant of the Tutsi vs Huti conflict that has shifted theaters and is now in east Congo. The extra nasty part of this is a few of the Militias fighting are subsidized by Pentecostal Christian groups from over here, talk about horrible and ironic death squads for Christ. Rape, murder, starvation ongoing, yes its happening as we speak. Darfur is another hot spot, millions displaced hundreds of thousands killed, for oil. China subsidizes this war as well as Saudi Arabia and gawd knows who else. I am sure Cheney is in there too since he loves anything evil and devastating and potentially profitable.
Then Chile has a huge earthquake and the Global response is less critical since they already had a functional infrastructure one better equipped then say Haiti. Still many have died and they are not back to normal, far from it. we need to help them too.
I think we have a limit to crisis and what we can tolerate and care about. I think we have a stop gap, a place internally where we don't, can't, don't want to see terror anymore. I think though that we need better coverage on Television, imagine if during American Idol we had a crisis moment a global devastation minute so we don't forget the world and its crisis or ongoing conflict and we need constant reminders of what is actually happening in the world instead of wondering what Paris or Lyndsey is doing or how the Gosselins pay for the 8 children. America has a problem and it's global. If we don't address theses hot spots disease will manifest that will reach us. There is a reason people like Paul Farmer is on a mission to eradicate drug resistant strains of say TB or HIV its not because he is a cool dude. Although he is, its because we here in America will be next. These drug resistant viruses could wreak havoc here.
Its a selfish motive to try and protect life in America.
THIS is why it is important to care and be informed about places that are in deep dire straits.
We can help each of us we can keep the aid coming and we can volunteer.
Shizaster is a word invented by my dear friend Adrian Pasdar it means worse then a disaster.
We need to continue to give to "Partners in Health" and other relief agencies like "Doctors without borders".
2 comments:
I found it fitting that both here and in England, Michael Jackson had the number one video of all time. What was fitting about it was that here it was "Thriller", and there it was "Earth Song". While the rest of the industrialized world understands the interconnectedness of all the earth's residents, we glorify the next fantasy... even if it's borderline demonic... and criticize the same artist when he shows his own awareness (like Mike was criticized for Earth Song).
The internet has made it much harder for us to hide from the harshness of the world. As well, folks like George Clooney and Edward Norton force TMZ and GMA to report some of the issues that would otherwise be swept under the rug. Some people believe that the number and frequency of these disasters will only desensitize people further. But enough are hitting close enough to everyone's individual homes that hopefully we will become more sensitive to those who suffer elsewhere.
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