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HAITIAN APATHY: “ET TU AMERICA?”
It’s been said: “A wise man does at once what a foolish man does at last.” This is an age-old attribute of mankind. When it comes to taking a right course of action, we tend to hesitate, and simply put things off. Then when the worst happens, those same things become top priorities. Human nature leans toward being reactive rather than proactive.
When one considers the devastation that took place January 2010 in Haiti – the most impoverished nation in the Western Hemisphere – one has to wonder how much less the cost would have been, humanly and monetarily, had the world responded to that nation’s needs proactively and with the same sense of urgency we see today. It took something like this event, something so colossal, to finally rent the veil of apathy. The United Nations was well aware of the plight of the Haitian people, and their amazing history, long before the earthquake claimed an estimated 250,000 lives. How many of those lives might have been spared had Haiti’s weak infrastructure been improved upon long beforehand? The political logjams all but disappeared after the quake, and now the cost is exponentially greater than it would have been if dealt with from a proactive posture. The immediate outcry and outpouring was (and still is) tremendous world-wide!
Finally getting the attention it deserves, Haiti is being responded to with a sense of urgency similar to the biblical story of Jonah who tried to ignore and run from his mission. After he was vomited up by the great fish upon dry land – what should have been a three-day journey to the city of Ninevah, Jonah did in one day. He acted out of a sense of urgency!
To bring this analogy closer to home: why do American politicians, lawmakers, pundits, and talking heads squabble over so much triviality? We have bigger fish to fry than constantly grandstanding, pitting the left against the right, and wasting precious time misinterpreting off-handed and/or misquoted comments for some political gain. A five year old can see the foolishness in all this and the lack of common sense among our country’s most educated elitist. The media should be ashamed of itself for giving so much airtime to this pettiness and other meaningless, frivolous reporting; when there are so many other important things they could and should focus on.
For instance, where’s the spotlight on the fact that 80% of Planned Parenthood clinics are located in poor urban communities? Many opponents view this as a form of genocide for Latinos and especially for Blacks. Since 1973 it is estimated that 55 million babies have been aborted. That’s more than the populations of California and Illinois combined.
Where’s the spotlight on building more, and renovating existing schools rather than building more and more prisons? The priority should be prevention through education rather than retention. What can be done to decrease the drop-out rate and steer kids away from gang activity and violence?
Where’s the spotlight on those American-based companies who heavily rely on the profitable American consumer base, but have the majority of their job positions held by offshore foreigners? Charity should begin at home where the national unemployment rate now stands at 10%.
Where’s the spotlight on care treatment for returning military soldiers having difficulty re-entering civilian life due to mental and emotional disorders?
Where’s the outcry and urgency on just these issues alone?
While this nation continues to reach out to its neighbors, let us at last do the right thing in our own backyard.
~ Larry Buford, freelance writer
Residing in Los Angeles, CA
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