Question of the Week: Why Can’t The Haitians Help Themselves?

So, I’ve been seeing the following message floating around Facebook statuses:

Shame on you America: the only country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed without eating, elderly going without needed meds, and mentally ill without treatment – yet we have a benefit for the people of Haiti on 12 TV stations. 99% of people won’t have the guts to copy and repost this.

So, my question of the week is, “What the fuck?”

At least that was my first reaction. Then, after sleeping on it, I wondered if a handful of people on Facebook feel this way, how many others do as well?

Personally, I think there’s a huge difference between a country that can (and has) help itself, but because of indifference, bureaucracy, and plain ole human nature, doesn’t always live up to its promise and potential and a country banding together to help an already impoverished country struck by a national disaster.

If you feel like more should be done at home, do it. You can’t blast the rest of the country for having compassion for a devastated country if you’re not writing elected officials to voice your concerns about health care reform or donating clothing and food to the homeless.

I understand the frustration behind the post. Our country has a ton of its own problems, but I think the comparison is way off base.

What do you think?