Haiti + Katrina: difference in America's aid?

Doesn't matter. Our people > their people. They overthrew the French and haven't managed to fully acclimate into the 21st century, not our fault right? They don't have reinforced buildings and so they crumble.

Katrina? Also our fault but hey we gotta help our own, even if they weren't exactly the fittest of the fit.

 

Fuck I hate patriotism, it pulls this world apart.

 

Wrong. The dominant people survive. We're the ones (along with some of Europe + Japan) that have technology so we benefit. We suddenly need to spread everything we have to other people? If people didn't die of natural disasters where do you think our population would be at exactly...

 

I think it's fucked up we can't feed the homeless people on our own soil but we should be obligated to help people who wouldn't blink twice to help us. I am not saying we shouldn't be helping, simply put there are greater issues on the HOMEFRONT. We can't be the world police, we have a lot of our own serious problems here in the states.

 

I didn't read but like 2 replies from this thread, and what the fuck. Do you realize that this country has been in this condition basically all of its existance? Its full of disease, poverty, and hungy/thirsty people, this was BEFORE an earthquake.

Heres what you have to take into consideration:
1. Where the fuck are we getting the money from to donate to this shitty country? We owe so much money to other countries and we're still dishing it out like its fucking nothing.
2. If america had an earthquake that destroyed NYC, would anyone help? Nope, because we probably owe more money to that country than everyone here would make in their lifetime combined.
3. Who cares? Really, this country has been complete and utter shit its entire existance, and an earthquake should actually help this if anything
4. What about the homeless and hungry people on our own soil? You probably don't care about them, so why should you care about another countrys hungry people?

I hope that changed some of you all's view on this.

 

im with you bro. im fucking enraged at this whole shit...ya know we should been givin them money to build proper housing if we really gave a fuck....the only reason ONLY REASON were givin em money now is cause world is watching. we really dont give a fuck....
and if ur canadien dont chime in eh cause how much ur gov give....jk
regarding my karma cause ill get what my bro got. what did the 10 and under children do to piss off karma and suffer for week w out water and food. was there 10000 lil murdering children down there that karma had to knock off? tst Karma!
Face B was jus jumpin with haiti this and haiti that, ya know what....updates are all back to normal now. people gave a fuck cause i was popular 2 weeks ago...
in closin gov charlie crist of my state is askin for money now from obama cause state health care is strapped now cause haiti......like u said theyll go back to being broke and know one will care......

 

you need to get an education of some sort before you talk about things you dont understand.

 

but we do feed the homeless people here.... or why else do we still have homeless people?

i dont want to go into details but if you want you can read up on how protectionism relates to the us ag industry and also about international trade.

also if you're interested you can check out the davos world economics forum there was a big thing about haitian development before and after the earthquake.

 

This cannot be emphasized enough.

I am getting so tired of hearing this BS about "taking care of America first". It just demonstrates that many of the citizens of this country can't see past their own backyards.

Those same people say, "What about the homeless here." The ironic part? These people have probably NEVER done anything to help the homeless in their lives. It's just a bunch of whining from people who think America is superior, and we aren't.

It makes me feel sick to my stomach when I read this thoughtless bullshit.
There were more deaths in Haiti than Katrina + 9/11 + the war in Iraq. But since we value American life more it's not the same right? Give me a break.

I don't think you understand anything about Haiti, in fact, I don't think you understand much about this issue at all. Police the world? Helping a country in this time of need has NOTHING to do with policing at all.

 

As someone who has run into a rough patch before, I can tell you that in a city it's really pretty easy to find aid if you take a look around. There are plenty of soup kitchens, food drives and welfare to keep most of the homeless fed if they are willing to take the effort.

 

Helping Haiti is the popular thing to do nowadays as a way to promote your company/self as something/someone who actually cares about what happens to the poor. In actuality, a large portion of people giving aid to Haiti are doing it for selfish reasons even if they don't realize it.

I feel sympathetic towards Haiti. Obviously, I wouldn't want to live there and there isn't anything funny about people dying (though people can die in funny ways). That said, I don't think Haiti is worth the time and money America is sinking into this crisis. For the past few years, we've all been complaining about saving money and restoring fiscal responsibility in the economic system. All of a sudden, some icon comes on the TV and tells us a sob story and we go apeshit with guilt (because in some way, the average American is responsible for Haiti, right?). Now, priorities have shifted towards this sinkhole and we're driving ourselves farther and farther from a solution. America is so goddamn OCD.

As a way to make people feel bad for not giving aid, you get people who tell these gimmicky personal stories about a Haitian mother who was raised in the same village she died in, leaving her two adorable, but victimized children out in the relentless Haitian sun.

The problem with these stories is that people are living in these conditions all around the world, even in America. A lot of the disdain people feel towards Haiti (that others misinterpret as sadistic life-hating) is a result of this disparity of response. In one case (Haiti), the entire world converges to help, yet in another equally as terrible place, the world seems not to care. In a sense, the Haitian earthquake "happened at the right place at the right time".

What's bad is when people don't care, but what's worse is when people pretend to.

Edit: And the WORST of all are these Moral Orel's going around telling people that they're bad people for not supporting "the crisis".

 

The fact that we'd fly thousands of miles again and again and again just to get a small amount of help over there is ridiculous when we waited weeks to send a single person to New Orleans which is closer no matter where you are in the United States. Not to mention how much more money you have to spend on an Earthquake that strong compared to a Hurricane that strong. We have always helped too many countries without helping ourselves first or ever even though we are already in incredible debt. Isolationism is the key with capitalism which is what our country was founded upon. Being a little 'world-aid' to every country in the world, including the one we destroy ourselves has got to be the most illogical thing I've ever heard of.

They can help theirselves just as we help ourselves.

Funny you say that when people laughed at New Orleans but are so devastated by Middle Eastern and European disasters. The way American's think and their blatant ignorance is why terrorists are after us... One day everyone hates Haiti or doesn't know what the hell Haiti is and the next they're texting 90999 and pretending like they're a good person for it. Us being in Afghanistan and trying to establish government is a waste of trillions that we don't have by hundreds of thousands of percent in debt. They've never had it and don't understand it. Not to mention the fact that we're the only country in history to keep a single constitution this long. What? You expect slum-dogs to know how to do this in ten years when it took us a few hundred? And after these hundreds of years, we're even falling apart horridly. Even if they miraculously did properly establish a government similar to ours in ten years when it took hundreds before, it would fall. It doesn't take five minutes for a dictator to come back in and take complete control over night.

 

Assuming I agree with the rest of your post (which I don't, for the most part), you really think it's WORSE to pretend to? I mean, help is help no matter if there are ulterior motives or not. It's DEFINITELY better than there not being anyone there to help.

 

I don't think I'd go as far to say that isolationism is the best way to run things. What I do find true about your post, though, is that the world sees the United States as a sort of crutch to lean on when needed. It's almost as if people feel we're obligated to give aid, when many don't feel the same way about any other country. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Yes. I would think much higher of the person who doesn't give aid than a person who texts HAITI to 90999 and pretends like they're a good person. There are more than enough caring people that help. In fact, there are too many--volunteers are being sent away.

 

my stance on this whole Haiti issue:

I am more than supportive if people would like to donate money to help Haiti. I am a bit skeptical if they get all the money that the American people donate, because in today's world everybody is lookin to get rich, but I do believe some of that donated money goes to Haiti.

It is not right for our government to donate billions of dollars that we do not have. it is not right for our government to donate billions of dollars while we owe other countries billions, some TRILLIONS. it is not right for our government to donate billions of dollars we don't have while there are millions of people IN OUR OWN COUNTRY who are suffering from poverty. it is not right for our own government to donate billions of dollars we don't have when our country is crumbling, slowly, right before our eyes.

shit since our government is giving Haiti a whole bunch of money, why don't we throw some money to those countries in Africa? You know, the ones with the 90 pound teenagers who look like they just came out of the holocaust. The ones who search all day looking for food. And jeez, how could we forget the poverty stricken countries in Central and South America? let's donate a couple billion to those guys as well.

As far as Katrina, I'm not well educated on it. All I remember was that it was supposed to come from the Atlantic, hit the everglades and then hit SW Florida. It was predicted to be another minor hurricane. when it hit the everglades, went into the gulf and went straight, that's when everyone started panicking. I Also remember people being stuck on the roofs of their houses for days before being rescued, the lack of food in the stadium that was sheltering people (forgot the name of it) and something about the faulty levies.

 

I was talking to one of my friends about this the other day and I mentioned that I thought the US seems to be helping Haiti a lot more than they helped New Orleans with Katrina. That could also be because I'm paying more attention to the news than I did back then.

But if this is true than what does that show? That we care more about other than our own? Or that they had it so much worse they need that much more help?

 

My opinion on Katrina is that not enough was done. Seriously people were trapped on bridges for days after relief organizations showed up. I think all the relief organizations should work together instead of trying to get their names in the news. There was alot of the relief organizations not helping or communicating with each other, from what I have heard from a National Guard buddy that was there.

I also think that Haiti is a joke. There are some legitimate organziations there, but seriously look at what happened with the U.N. aid station. They abandoned it and a newscaster who had a PHD had to step in. Then he gets bitched at for not being a profesional in journalism.

News casters are hated because they ask ridiculous questions to people, who just almost died, and then refuse to help based on their "profesionalism".

As far as the Haiti supply drops, get fucking real. We have boxes and boxes of bottled water sitting in every store from Florida to Maine, and we can only sprinkle supplies on these people? Seriously the National Guard and Coast Guard have the supplies and ability to make round the clock airdrops.

Everything everyone is doing is just to get their names out there, in my opinion. Except for the individuals in those organizations, they was to help obviously but peoples egotistic bullshit is getting in the way.