I Am Shamed To Be An American

[iamjoy]

at least this week.

Look at the list of countries that is offering us aid:

Australia, Austria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, China, Columbia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, Greece, Guyana, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

(link: http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/03/katrina.world.aid.reut/index.html)

So why does this make me ashamed, two reasons:

1) Some of these countries can barely have the resources to take care of their own, and they are offering to help us. Yet, when they have a disaster, a lot of Americans bitch about spending our money to help other people.

2) We are one of the wealthiest, most advanced nations in the world. Why can't we, or won't we, take care of our own?

But, much as I say we should take care of our own, every jingoistic American zealot needs to know this. Although most of the world disagrees with much of our national policy, they have not lost their compassion for the American people.

[Child_Of_Isis]

1. Be ashamed of our government

but not our beloved country.

[iamjoy]

2. That's Sort Of What I Mean

but, to an extent, don't the people get the government they deserve?

[hopein08]

4. Here's a quote to back you up...

"Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve."

George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

I don't deserve this government. The people here at DU don't either. But if the rest of the country (Bush's "mandate") thinks this is what we deserve and they aren't convinced we deserve better...I guess it's the best that we can get.

[yy4me]

5. We do get the government we deserve but

look what happened. We deserved to win the last 2 elections and they were stolen from us. We got this disaster in Washington. We did not deserve the current administration.

[Child_Of_Isis]

6. Stay focused.

Our elections were stolen. We are under a dictatorship. Free republic, Fox and Rush does not represent the average joe. Trust me, I live amongst the average joe. And no, Americans do not deserve this. We are basically good people. And the whole world knows that... as do they know that our government is and has been hijacked. If American citizens cannot regain control by next election, I predict another country to come in and do it for us.

[hopein08]

3. Perfectly put, iamjoy, and I could not agree with you more...

I too am ashamed to be an American. I was distressed to be an American when we invaded Iraq, but not ashamed. I am ashamed that the leaders of this country feel that they have something to prove, that they must do it themselves when it is so crystal clear that they cannot do it by themselves, that they cannot accept more foreign aid. The people of the country deserve better. And every single American should be thankful that the average people in the rest of the world are not as xenophobic as some Americans and can look past our failings and still want to help us. Meanwhile, our government is more than likely sitting on the aid offers to figure out what we would owe each nation in return for what they offer. Perhaps I am naive about some things but we should take what help we can get. Americans should not die while other nations could save them.

I am ashamed.

[iamjoy]

7. That;'s More What I Mean

thanks