Destroy This City of Delusion

Good Evening.

I have been busy listening to Muse and browsing zappos.com looking for shoes that I don't need and shouldn't buy.

But I have to figure out something for summer footwear, because apparently my beloved Old Navy flip flops are not allowed at the new job and I have no idea what I will wear. Thumbs down to that.

I was thinking today about a status I saw on Facebook last week basically "shaming" Americans for donating to relief efforts in Haiti when there are so many Americans themselves in poverty.

Several points come to mind:

1. Helping others in need is quintessentially American. We give when there is great need. We have done so for a very long time, and for various different reasons. I like to think that is something that sets our country apart from many others, the fact that our people are compassionate and can be selfless.

2. In my mind there is a question of disaster origin. Yes, there are many in America who have very little. There are also plenty of people in America who have placed themselves in crisis by living outside their means and by taking advantage of others charity. The disasters in New Orleans, Indian Ocean Tsunami, and the earthquake in Haiti were disasters that the residents of the respective locations had no control over. No one had any idea that the land would shake and open and kill almost 200,000 people a few weeks ago.

Should we deny these people relief simply because they are not Americans?

Or is it American to give relief because we have been provided more opportunities than most of the worlds population?

And how many Americans out there would refuse to give aid to their fellow Americans? I know that I donated to the Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina relief.

Does donating aid to a foreign country make you less American?

I don't think it does.

Now, sit back and enjoy this rare live performance of Muses City of Delusion