TheU.S. is being a bad neighbor in the face of one of the worst naturaldisasters in history. Bush is scrambling to portray each successiveinadequate offer, first $15 million, then $35 and now $350 million, asthe best the millionaire in his mansion can do for the folks in thepoor part of town who have just been flooded out of house and home.Norway, a country of 4.5 million with the same per capita income as theU.S. according to the CIA,has pledged $40 per person: $180 million. When our contribution reachesa comparable level, $7.8 billion or 43 times our current offer, we cantalk about generosity.
The broader point, however, is that Bush’s callousness has weakenedus and put our security at risk. The reason to help the tsunami victimsis partly based on morals — those who have much should be merciful tothose who have little — and partly on self-interest. A prosperousneighborhood is most in the interest of those with the biggest housesand fanciest cars. Just as residents of any suburb need gas stationsand banks, we depend on foreigners for oil and $2 billion a day incapital to finance our deficits. Increasingly, however, we are hatedby our neighbors. Indonesia, for example, is a major trading partner,an important source of oil, and the most populous Muslim country onearth. Their prosperity is our success, and their despair sooner orlater our hardship.
I do agree. The last figure I heard about the cost of the war was about $1 billion per day. It says a distressing (though not surprising) thing about our government’s priorities that we can come up with only a third of that to help these people in the worst disaster of our lifetime. I’m ashamed…Michael B.