LILEKS (James) :: The Bleat December 29, 2004:
I's not for the dead we send the money, of course -- It's for those whose lives have been scoured down to the bone, but you can't help but think that your contribution somehow mitigates the awful numbers. It doesn't. And if your money makes its way to a small village, and ends up as a box of clean underwear and toothpaste and batteries and aspirin dropped in the lap of a man who watched his entire family scraped off the face of the earth and swallowed by the brutal, implacable and mindless hand of nature, well, know that it probably won't make much difference. It can't. But someone has to get him clean underwear and aspirin.
Yes, because imagine the horror if a man who has watched his entire family perish in a tidal flood has to endure life without clean underwear and aspirin.
No, someone doesn't "have" to do anything. We WANT to give aid and comfort to the suffering. Personally, I feel that once the man has a change of dry clothing, potable water, 1000 calories per day and a temporary roof over his head, that's enough. Furthermore, I am deeply offended that my tax dollars are effectively used to pay in-surance claims for individuals and nations who have paid not a cent in premiums.
Posted by: johngalt at December 30, 2004 07:49 AM