"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."
I'm not coming down on anyone who has posted this garbage to their profiles on Facebook, but I do feel as if I should throw down my opinion in a forum (my forum), where not everyone has to look at it. You don't have to view my blog if you don't want to. I'm writing this for myself, mainly, as I don't like to cause undo controversy.This country was founded on the idea of volunteerism. If anyone out there has read (or at least listened in on) their Freshman year American History books, you will remember the American Revolution which began in Lexington, Massachusetts on April 19, 1775. This war, which was more than crucial to the formation of our country, was fought by a volunteer militia. Now just try and imagine what life would be like living under British rule. Not only would we be speaking like a bunch of Limeys, but we would probably be crippled a long-ass time ago under unreasonable taxation.
Speaking of unreasonable taxation, remember the Boston Tea Party? None of those guys were paid to dress up like Indians and float on Boston Harbor. They did it because they believed in the fact that all human beings deserve the right to live freely without the threat of oppression.
Oh yeah, speaking of oppression, I'm sure everyone is aware by this point that Haiti itself was once a French colony. When it was known as St. Dominigue, Haiti was one of the richest French colonies on the Carribbean, largely because of it's sugar production. French success on the backs of Haitian slaves. On August 14, 1791, the Haitian slave population rebelled. After over three decades of torture, lynchings and economic servitude, Haiti was finally made to pay the ultimate price. In 1825, Haiti paid the French 500,000 gold francs to gain it's independence and eventually the French bully left them alone. And by alone, I mean ALONE. Impovreshed to the point where they have still yet to recover. This is probably why Haiti did not have the means to build sound buildings, and provide their countrymen with a viable infrastructure. When that earthquake hit, nothing in Haiti could have remained standing. All because the French are a bunch of assholes.
Now, when you take all this information, and you sit for a quick hot minute to think about it, I suppose you could liken this situation to helping out the underdog. But who likes the underdog? In a country where there is more than enough money and influence to go around maybe three, four times, you have to think about the fact that most Americans make their own luck. When it comes to an act of God (or whatever your philosophies or beliefs may be), I feel a lot more deeply about the situation. But that's just me, and that's why they call it VOLUNTEERISM.
VOLUNTEERISM: the policy or practice of volunteering one's time or talents for charitable, educational, or other worthwhile activities, esp. in one's community.
DON'T DO IT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO. NOBODY IS FORCING THAT DOLLAR OUT OF YOUR HAND.
