Shame on you, America
Jan 26th, 2010 by Accidental Thinker
The following post has been going around Facebook over the past couple of days, and it is wrong on so many levels that I hardly know where to begin.
Shame on you America: the only country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed without eating, elderly going without medical needs & mentally ill without treatment-yet we have a benefit for the people of Haiti on 12 stations. 99 percent of people wont have the guts to copy & repost this.
Let me rebut this point by point:
1.   America is NOT the only country with people who are homeless, hungry, and uninsured. This is so blatantly false it would be laughable, if it wasn’t so scary that anyone actually believed it. Yes, we have our societal ills, but the United States has one of the highest standards of living in the world. There are many, many, many worse off nations where legions of people have no food, shelter, or medical care, with governments unwilling or unable to provide for these basic needs.
Edit: A family member pointed out that what this may be saying isn’t that America is the only country with these societal problems, just the only such country that held a benefit like this. Even if that interpretation is correct, it’s still a false statement. There is NO country free of such social issues, yet America wasn’t alone in hosting a benefit. The rest of my argument stands.
2.   Homeless shelters and food kitchens abound in this country, and no one who shows up in an emergency room will be denied basic medical treatment just because they can’t pay for it. Yes, there is a tremendous need in our country, and we are doing far from a perfect job of addressing those needs. I heartily applaud those who recognize that. But the fact remains that resources are there for those who truly need them in a way that they simply aren’t in many less developed nations.
3.   Some who are expressing so much concern for the poor in America right now are the very same people who complain bitterly about using tax money to pay for programs to help the underprivileged. They accuse such people of being lazy and living off the hard work of honest people. They want nothing to do with paying for legitimate assistance programs to aid those in need, just because some freeloaders may take advantage of the system. In my very humble opinion, this smacks of hypocrisy.
4.   What’s wrong with having a benefit for the people of Haiti in the midst of a national disaster? Haiti is a country with less than nothing, one of the poorest countries on the planet. They’ll never recover without the generosity pouring in from other nations. Besides, no one can say we haven’t done the same for our own people. There were similar benefit concerts following 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina!
When, oh when, did Americans become such elitists? God didn’t command us to only love other Americans. And He didn’t create the artificial international borders that we now use to insulate and isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. We’ve been blessed with so much. Why shouldn’t we share it with those in the most need, in a time of crisis? Where’s our Christian compassion?
Shame on you, America. Indeed.
The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of
the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
—Matthew 25:40
True story.
Amen! Hear! Hear! Great post! Well done, Monique.
AMEN! Shame on whoever wrote all those lies.
Thank you for speaking out. Sometimes we can only see things more clearly from a distance.
Some people in England are also substituting the America for England and posting the a version of the same thing on Facebook. They make themselves look ridiculous, particularly with the ‘going without meds’ element – as England has a National Health Service. It should also be United Kingdom or Britain, not just England….it is wrong on so many levels.
Haiti is in need. All wealthier countries have an obligation to help. Simple, really. It is all about compassion.
Very good points made. I am ashamed when people put such sour grapes, egocentric nonsense on Facebook. Hope anyone who posts it, whether they use America or England as examples, is also thoroughly ashamed of themselves…..
Lovely blog, by the way..which I have now stumbled upon!
I agree 100%. They are human beings, just because they aren’t Americans we aren’t suppose to care that they are suffering and have no resources or food or water and that so many of their children are orphaned? That’s a sad way to think.
Hallelujah! I couldn’t have said it better myself Monique! You have said what I say everytime the topic comes up. We are all children of God, not just those of us in America. We are blessed and should share those blessings. I hope you don’t mind, but I may send a few people over to read your post, only because it is so well written and speaks volumes. God bless!
You all must be illiterate, the writer of the post was saying:
“the only country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed without eating, elderly going without medical needs & mentally ill without treatment-yet we have a benefit for the people of Haiti on 12 stations”
In other words, what other countries have Haiti benefits overwhelming the airwaves while their own people are suffering.
John,
I’m quite sure of my literacy, but thanks for your concern. And rather than simply deleting your name-calling comment, I will point out that you must not have actually read my post, in particular the edit under point #1 which specifically addresses my misinterpretation of this point.
As to the apparent intended meaning, it is still a false statement. I would encourage you to next time do your own research before propagating untruths. The benefits were not ONLY taking place and/or airing in the US. The “Hope for Haiti” benefit (a) also included performances from London, not just the US, and (b) was aired in at least 36 countries besides the US.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_for_Haiti_Now:_A_Global_Benefit_for_Earthquake_Relief
Furthermore, many non-televised fundraising concerts took place around the world. Do a Google search and see for yourself.
Finally, the US does not neglect our own. The rest of my post makes this very clear.
What I think is sad, is we are a wealthy country, and yet people die without proper care. Haiti is not wealthy, it is understandable if you die in a poor nation of inadequate medical care, but that should not happen in the U.S.