Letters to the Editor
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THE WEST OWES NOTHING TO ANYONE!!!
Im SO sick and tired of hearing these self-righteous, arrogant liberals like the author of this article Mr. Loewenberg; blame every issue in the world on the west. Get a grip! It is our kindness and generousity that leads us to give to the less fortunate, but please remember we DONT owe them anything. Not to mention, we get nothing in return but criticism and bad-mouthing, n o amount is ever enough! Furthermore, Id like to see most of the aid we give the world stopped and redirected to our children and people here in the U.S. And lets be honest here, last time I felt like I was starving (I had done a 72hr fast), I can tell you I the last thing I felt like doing was having sex! And after I became a single mom, I didnt want the risk of taking the pill and I didnt want to have another child, so I was celibate for 5 years. Now then, lets place some accountability where it belongs, on the AFRICANS shoulders. Theyre not just some helpless group of animals, they are human beings with the ability to think and reason. And it stands to reason that if you cant even feed yourself, you shouldnt be getting pregnant. At the risk of offending the bleeding hearts out there, I will add that I do indeed believe that the africans have figured out how babies are made and how to prevent that. And dont give me this crap about how we cant expect them to exercise soem self control! Because then you are saying they are nothing more than animals who can act purely on instinct without the ability to think and reason. In which case then perhaps we should simply treat them like we do the helpless cats and dogs of the world, spay or neuter them and be done with it, but you cant have it both ways! It is not our responsibility to solve the problems of the world, nor is it our responsibility to continue to heave endless amounts of money and food into the bottomless pit called africa. And if the world doesnt see fit to stop bashing the west and show a little appreciation, who knows, maybe one day we will simply stop giving.
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Welcome to Deadwood
Wow! This is the orneriest, meanest-spirited, narrowest-minded bunch of narcissists I've ever seen post anything on Salon.
At the mere mention that millions of people are going hungry--at a time when America is exploding from super-sized portions--a gaggle of Salon readers go apocalyptic and start shouting a far clumsier brand of social Darwinism than Dickens's anti-heroes.
I grew up in West Virginia, but having spent quite a bit of time abroad in Russia and Europe, I can say that people abroad are often stunned by the astounding self-interestedness Americans display. Here we are, in the richest country on earth, when most of us are born into lifestyles that are the envy of the world (even those who are considered less wealthy by American standards), and yet we wail like puppies whenever somebody implies that with great wealth comes a little responsibility. The facts are that we spend a miserly percentage of our national wealth on aid, despite consuming huge amounts of the world's resources, and that we simultaneously spend billions every week on lame and stupid 'national defense' projects like Iraq.
This author's piece was by no means a trailblazer--it's more like a routine reality check--but the basic point, which most of you narcis even failed to mention, is an excellent one. To wit: he argues not for more emergency aid--and still less for more let's help ADM kind of aid--but rather for more money aimed at really helping people feed themselves. Yes, money has been spent on such projects before. Yes, governments are corrupt. But the truth is that this is a human tragedy, we have the resources to at least try to make a difference, and that the hard-hearted 'tough love' most of you all are recommending is really just a fig leaf to cover our own stinginess and narrowmindedness.
Oh, and on contraception: many of you seem to imply that it's liberal PCness that prevents contraception from assuming a large role in our aid efforts. Nope. Christian nationalism does--in the form of lame, US sponsored abstinence programs designed to pull in more votes in Jesusland. I'm sure that barring such interference, our aid would take the form of boats filled with seeds and condoms, and not GM leftover corn and lectures on sex.
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The National Observer had an interesting POV back in '75...
Let 'em starve.
We feed this generation of African stick babies and what will they produce? (pause for dramatic effect) MORE African stick babies!
Who look adorable on late-night television commercials and who will grow up to be not so adorable, particularly when they take up arms.
Rats in a contained environment will breed until they don't have enough resources to support themselves -- they'll have reached their "carrying capacity" for their environment.
Do you know many US white couples who have more than two kids? Me neither, too expensive, right, no one can afford it. So we have ZPG and Africans manage to have a PERPETUAL state of crisis, starvation, war, et cetera.
I hate to call a spade a oh, shit, that's so non-PC, forget it... I'm going to go crack open a $3 liter of Fiji water and sing the Star-Spangled Banner.
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Looking for a Better Way?
I found many of the reader's letters a shock. Perhaps there's a positive way of interpreting some pretty callous comments?
Maybe the 'to hell with Africa' attitude comes from rage and frustration that so many decades of so much aid has accomplished so little?
Samuel Lowenberg could follow up with an article that explains in more detail why all this aid failed. He could also describe some alternative types of assistance that might have a more lasting and beneficial effect in future.
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We should help
As a conservative, I have to disassociate myself from all these mean minded ungenerous people writing letters about this article.
Before reading the letters, I was going to say that the writer of the article is wrong to blame the west and the US, wrong not to blame muslims who have billions upon billions of oil money who are not helping their fellow muslims, wrong not to blame africans themselves. All this is still true. But that does not mean we should not help.
Africa is not overpopulated. hunger is caused by politics. some decades ago, a UN report said that ethiopia by itself could feed the entire continent. but of course that requires an economy and politics that africans don't yet have.
the writes who commented on ingratitude are right. we will not receive gratitude. the lack of appreciation is not just from foreigners either. Bush has given billions to combat AIDS and yet liberals talk as if he is personally responsible for the disease. this is one reason I am a conservative and I don't join in denouncing the west as liberals do. Perhaps if liberal media people had a more realistic attitude, such articles would not arouse so much opposition.