To make myself appear less of a monster, I will preface what I have to say with this: I am an American, and like most dKos readers, I love my country. And while I harbor the strongest feelings of disdain and anger at the actions of my government (again, like most dKos readers), I would never wish for the blood of my fellow countrymen (and women) to pay for those actions. I feel tremendous sorrow that a failure of the goverment (which most of us here already knew to be full of incompetent and/or vile, self-centered windbags) has helped exacerbate the suffering of those affected by Katrina. I wish them all success in rebuilding their homes and their lives.
BUT. Some people in the world aren't so lucky as to be able to rebuild. If we look at America's folly in the middle-east (or any country with war on its home soil), it appears as if we got off pretty light. We have it easy.
This is not a new concept to me. We Americans always cry about the horrors of things that happen on our soil, while at the same time shrugging indifferently to horrors that happen abroad. Something
Juan Cole wrote started me thinking on it once again.
Roughly one year ago, Cole wrote a piece describing a possible America, given that the conditions in Iraq were instead on our home soil.
One small portion:
What would America look like if it were in Iraq's current situation? The population of the US is over 11 times that of Iraq, so a lot of statistics would have to be multiplied by that number.
Thus, violence killed 300 Iraqis last week, the equivalent proportionately of 3,300 Americans. What if 3,300 Americans had died in car bombings, grenade and rocket attacks, machine gun spray, and aerial bombardment in the last week? That is a number greater than the deaths on September 11, and if America were Iraq, it would be an ongoing, weekly or monthly toll.
We lost many to the fury of a mighty storm, a natural disaster. Those not killed, while displaced, will have a chance to go back to their homes and attempt to start anew.
Those in countries devestated by an ongoing war, a disaster completely man-made, do not have the luxury, should they remain alive, of simply returning to where they lived and rebuilding. Death and destruction remain a constant danger. It does not pass with a high or low pressure system.
There are estimated to be some 25,000 guerrillas in Iraq engaged in concerted acts of violence. What if there were private armies totalling 275,000 men, armed with machine guns, assault rifles (legal again!), rocket-propelled grenades, and mortar launchers, hiding out in dangerous urban areas of cities all over the country? What if they completely controlled Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Denver and Omaha, such that local police and Federal troops could not go into those cities?
We lost many to the fury of a storm. Large areas of our country have been devestated. It will be difficult to rebuild. It will be an unenviable task.
What if the entirety of our country had been affected, such as is the case in war? Could we rebuild? How would we live? What would our daily struggle liken to?
And how would those who live in distant lands view our plight? With a shrug of indifference?
How would they rate our plight when matched against troubles of their own? Would they forget all about us the moment a more relevant or pressing issue arose?
I can't help but notice that the media didn't give so much as an afterthought to Iraq during Katrina, nor in her wake. Sure, Iraq is back in our thoughts now. But should it take an explosion that kills 150 people to remind us that we have helped make it possible for such suffering to occur?
Despite my tone, I don't bring this up to make Katrina seem like some paltry issue. Anyone whose life has been affected by it would certainly not think of it as paltry.
<insert sweeping generalization here> I merely wish to point out that we are all selfish whiners. <end sweeping generalization>
I know people here didn't and do not support waging war in Iraq. I know people have good hearts and would stop all the suffering in the world and make it so no puppy ever died were it in their power to do so.
I just feel that we, as a populace, are quick to forget the suffering of non-Americans, even if we are one of the causes of it, whenever something more "pressing" arises. Our general lack of catastrophic events has left us uncomprehending of what it is really like. That same lack makes us panic when something disastrous does happen.
I didn't, and do not, support the war in Iraq, but I feel responsible all the same. Sure, the government was hijacked by a bunch of thugs and cronies, but we didn't stop them. Sure, many of us tried to do what we could to stop them, but obviously it wasn't enough. Hopefully we can look at the suffering in our own country and the suffering in other countries to help motivate us in our struggle to take back our beloved land.
In the meantime, let's rebuild in the aftermath of the storm. Let's support those of our countrymen/women who need it. At the same time, let's try to make it so people not so close to home also have a chance to rebuild. Let's try to REALLY understand what it must be like to live in such a place. Let's learn lessons from Katrina that help us at home AND abroad.
America got a little taste of disaster. Let's use that newfound understanding of what disaster is to help STOP it in other places, not add to it.
openYourEyes
Thank you for reading my diary. If I broke some of the rules of diaries (and I DID read them) please forgive me, as it is my first.