Originally posted by ModernAcademia
I remember during Katrina they said looters broke into a grocery store, then another one said a good caucasian hungry family luckily found a store to
take food from.
Oh yes, lets drag racism into this.
I agree that there is racism, and I also saw those pictures, and I do agree that it is wrong to call it looting for one group of people, and finding
for another. However, whats going on in Haiti right now in terms of the chaos in getting aid to the people is not racist.
Its chaos. Lets remember Katrina, and how long it took us to coordinate and get things rolling. Was it because they are black? No, because they
werent all black. Its because we really arent as competent as we like to give ourselves credit for.
I know on ATS it is popular to believe that evil geniuses are plotting everything. And perhaps they are. But if any of you have ever worked with the
military, or other government agencies, (DOE, DOD, etc.) you may well be aware that genius is not what is running those places. Its just plain old
humans, some smarter than others, all of them having to deal with chains of command and red tape.
I agree with the poster who says the US was damned if it does, and damned if it didnt. I am sure the entire gamut of "the US sucks" arguments will
come into play over the next months and years. If I didnt feel enormous sympathy for the people suffering in Haiti, I would say the same thing, that
we should just pull the hell out and let everyone who thinks they can do it better do so.
The fact of the matter is, even chaotic aid is better than no aid. I am sure all the Haitian leaders need to do is ask the US to get the heck out if
we are causing more trouble than we are worth. But you know what? They wont. I get so tired of all the armchair quarterbacks, thinking they can do
so much better than the men and women actually in the middle of hell, doing the best they can. Dont just preach on ATS, go volunteer. Help out. Get
your hands dirty. Show us all, and the world, how much better you can do.
You know I dont agree with everything my country does, and we do screw up royally sometimes. But this is not some evil plot. Its a natural disaster,
and what you should be noticing is just how fragile our civilization is. It doesnt take much to reduce us to starving throngs. And even the most
advanced countries on the planet cant do a hell of a lot to dig even a small country out of trouble.
Thats what you should be noticing. That we just arent as hot as we like to think we are. And we are doing as well as we are only partly because of
our skill and technology. The other bit is luck.