Is it just me that...

[no3]

1-Wonders why it takes a great tragedy like a tsunami that kills hundreds of thousands in one wave to get a world/nation to donate in vast amounts (and rightfully so); yet tens of hundreds are dying in yearly waves via the homeless, aids..(u name it) and we as a world are apathetic to their need.

2-Wonders when did donationg to a cause become a game of one-ups-manship ie.Canada has donated blah...US has donated blah, blah,...Europe has donated blah blah blah...US has now donated blah blah and bling.

3-They say that genetic medicine in the next ten years will be at a stage where aging will be none existent...Great! We won't die of old age; just cancer, aids, ALS, heart disease etc...

Sorry for the rant...had a lot on my mind

 

[tom25]

1-Wonders why it takes a great tragedy like a tsunami that kills hundreds of thousands in one wave to get a world/nation to donate in vast amounts (and rightfully so); yet tens of hundreds are dying in yearly waves via the homeless, aids..(u name it) and we as a world are apathetic to their need.

2-Wonders when did donationg to a cause become a game of one-ups-manship ie.Canada has donated blah...US has donated blah, blah,...Europe has donated blah blah blah...US has now donated blah blah and bling.

3-They say that genetic medicine in the next ten years will be at a stage where aging will be none existent...Great! We won't die of old age; just cancer, aids, ALS, heart disease etc...

Sorry for the rant...had a lot on my mind

Something like 800,000 Rawandans died in 100 days, 5 million south africans have aids and most will die ... but there is no mass outpouring of donations and fund raising.

I'm not saying we shouldn't be giving to the Tsunami relief effort ... of course we should and I have ... but you do gotta wonder.

Tom

 

[LonelyGhost]

read about the plight of Aboriginal people here in Canada ... we spend over a billion dollars a year on an Indian and Northern Affairs ministry and yet Aboriginals have the highest rate of suicide, homicide, AIDs, diabetes, alcohol and drug addiction, tuberculosis, etc ...

there are more Canadian homes with computers in them than there are Aboriginal homes with toilets.

the ranting we have in Canada about the plight of the tsunami victims is hypocracy of the highest order when we do ZIP about aboriginal peoples.

 

[gotsome2004]

agree 100%

 

[Teabagger]

Yeah, I do wonder.

I am getting a bit tired of the one ups manship as well. Currently in our office there is a wide distribution email thread that started as a $20 challage to all and has evolved (devolved?) into an escalating bidding war. People declaring to all " I am giving $XX" - current bid is up to $150................. I am keeping silent on it, but several people have asked "so how much are you giving?" "Exactly as much as I can afford and I have done it privately" I reply and end the conversation.

Nice of the company to match $ for $, I believe they were able to double it up again with the federal gov't match.

 

[Cinnamon Girl]

I was also wondering

What affect willit have on other charities/relief work, the Salvation Army is seeking new funds, will everything else be forgotten thru the year.

What happens when another disaster happens, does this set a precedent?

LonelyGhost I believe our first nations are in culture shock. It has only been around 200 years since the vast change in their culture. Look how they were treated in the beginning.......herded up & designated land. Don't get me started!

Don't get me on about Africa either! AIDS, starvation. another good point.

The bright side, with all the $$$, things should be back to normal within the next year or two

 

[jmac23]

Today in Africa 6500 people died from AIDS. And that happens every single day. So simple math tells you that next week more people will be dead in Africa from AIDS than people in southeast Asia. Over 11 million children are orphans. I don’t know the answers. But we seem to jump from one band wagon to another.

 

[tom25]

Today in Africa 6500 people died from AIDS. And that happens every single day. So simple math tells you that next week more people will be dead in Africa from AIDS than people in southeast Asia. Over 11 million children are orphans. I don’t know the answers. But we seem to jump from one band wagon to another.

the thing about the Tsunami is that it is so visible. Its easy to imagine what our money will go to ... rebuilding houses, roads, schools, hospitals (tourist resorts???), etc. And its affected so many people all at once. The money can't bring the dead back, but it can rebuild for those that survived.

With aids, people die individually, alone, one by one. People can't seem to get their heads around the tragedy because it seems individual. But christ, if the pharaceutical companies gave even a portion of what is being donated in tsunami relief back thousands could be saved.

Gina Lee, I'm with you ... don't get me started.

What a mixed up world.

Tom

 

[luckydog71]

We are all driven by the news media and they are driven by ratings. So a major (and very tragic) story will get the headlines and then all of the money.

Worthy causes will receive less money this year because of the Asia disaster. Most people have a set sum of money they donate each year. If there entire annual donation went to this one disaster then the others will suffer.

 

[Venture70]

While I am not turning a deaf ear to the plight of various people in need, I think it's important to note that the things like Aids, poverty, massacres etc. require some active human participation to occur, so they are inherently different than a natural disaster. While I agree that something should have been done about the massacres in Rwanda, it's a sticky situation when another nation 'swoops in' and starts to get involved in the domestic affairs [however tragic and horrible] of a sovereign nation [look at the mess in Iraq.] Similarly with Aids, it's not like this is a natural disaster that simultaneously affects thousands at once - it is contracted one-by-one by the actions of it's unwitting [in Africa] victims. Same for aboriginal peoples in Canada - yes they were screwed over for the better part of two centuries, yet every aboriginal person in Canada has options to pursue to better their situation. It's not easy, but it's easier than moving your house out of the way of a tidal wave. Poverty, aids, war... and all other miseries of this nature flow from human action [or inaction] while there's nothing that could have been done to stop that wave. I think it's important to make this distinction when discussing the rest of the world's response to the situation.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[tom25]

While I am not turning a deaf ear to the plight of various people in need, I think it's important to note that the things like Aids, poverty, massacres etc. require some active human participation to occur, so they are inherently different than a natural disaster.

Unless you're a child born with aids b/c your mother had it, or a woman who contracts it b/c her husband refuses to use a condom b/c it isn't manly and she is in no position to refuse b/c its her wifely duty. That's the reality of how most Africans contract AIDS. And I'm not sure on the massacre front that for the victims having your village wiped out by marauding warlords or death squads is terribly different than having it wiped out by a giant wave. If anything, the tsunami might be less terrifying and brutalizing. Poverty is a difficult one, so many ideological positions caught up in the explanations of why poverty occurs and who is responsible.

I agree, natural disasters are different. In part they are different because we can give without actually having to confront the degree to which individuals, governments, and corporations inflict terrible suffering on other people.

Just my .02.

Tom

 

[wolverine]

To summarize: natural disasters such as tsunamis are seen as a bigger impact because they are totally out of the control of humankind. The other problems could have been avoided.

Not that I necessarily agree with that mindset.

 

[maxx50]

Yes the disasters are the ...

The things is you are all right on in what you say ,but it won't change anything .Why ? Because of our attitude , and i am not say just our attitude but athe world attitude . as long as we have people that don't care about other and how they live each and every day , the world will continue to have wars ,revolutions, racisum and "natural disatures" .Most of this is all preventiable even the massive death tolls from natural disatures. How ? Well it is about educating the people to build stronge building,( funny thing the only building to survie in most villages was the mosce ..no expence was spared) not to build right in harms way ( lets face it once again all the places destoied were at sea level ..there was know chance to escape... but you could not tell them any thing different , and they are going to build right there again..but they always do)
And if you want to talk about africa or any other country where there is million dying ..ask your self who is makeing money off the destablization and then you will know where to start to solve that .

As for giving ,they want us to give money to every thing give ..give ..give amd over half is not even geting to the cause it going into the charity fund raiser s pocket . Of the billion of $ that has been reported raised for this latest disaster ,. they will be lucky if they get enough food an meds. , as for the rebuilding moneys ..maybe some tin shacks and poor quality building ,a nother disaster waiting to happen .
I feel sorry for all these people but untill the attitude of this world changes we are just beating our head against the wall hopeing for best but each day getting more of the same shit.

 

[samantha_van]

I hope that nothing bad happends in canada.. earthquake.. flood etc.. we're giving all money way wont be able to help our own ppl if something terrorible happends!

 

[tom25]

I hope that nothing bad happends in canada.. earthquake.. flood etc.. we're giving all money way wont be able to help our own ppl if something terrorible happends!

Lots of money may have to be sent to Winnipeg. We've got so much fucking snow the whole city might be flooded in the spring.

Tom

 

[HankQuinlan]

Oscar Peterson is playing piano right now on TV...he just made a speech about exactly these sentiments --- about not forgetting about the misery found elsewhere in the world, and about African children.

Not sure what I think of the hoopla on this TV show --- but Oscar Peterson is sure as heck one of the great Canadians anyway.

 

[tom25]

Oscar Peterson is playing piano right now on TV...he just made a speech about exactly these sentiments --- about not forgetting about the misery found elsewhere in the world, and about African children.

Not sure what I think of the hoopla on this TV show --- but Oscar Peterson is sure as heck one of the great Canadians anyway.

When I graduated from York University Oscar Peterson was the chancellor of the university. Only reason to go to graduation was the chance to shake his hand.

Tom

 

[wolverine]

Oscar Peterson is playing piano right now on TV...he just made a speech about exactly these sentiments --- about not forgetting about the misery found elsewhere in the world, and about African children.

Not sure what I think of the hoopla on this TV show --- but Oscar Peterson is sure as heck one of the great Canadians anyway.

I was just reading about the CBC special on their website. All I can say is...feh.

 

[no3]

Thanks all...good to know it's not just me.

 

[Jefe]

Aid is mismanaged and media driven.

So I'm a "junior member" eat me, I've got a few things to say about the so called Tsunami aid.

First of all from what I understand the aid gets to these places and cant get off the tarmac b/c there is no infrastructure in place to disperse it. Its such a sacred cow I've been called a jerk for critisizing the efforts.

Second of all; the media has driven what constitutes a proper sized donation. Even though the people over there cant eat money. Our DART crew seems vastly underfunded although they seem to be in the best position to make a difference.

In response to the AIDS comments and the first world looking the other way. 1 milliion people will also die of malaria in the third world this year and you will hear absolutly squat about that one. Give your head a shake, medicine is driven by rich men who cant get hard ons and the Prozac chugging women who live with them, not actual suffering.

And in Iraq more women and children died from the economic sanctions imposed before the "war" than all casualties during the war.

OK I'm done.......

Think our politicians read Nietche(sp)..."there are those of us destined to lead and there are the disposable masses" something like that.