What the Hell Is Going On?

A few years ago I read a book in which the story took place in Myanmar. I can't remember the name of the book, but it appears that the author's description of the repressive military government is accurate. How can a government refuse to allow foreign aid into the country after such a horrific natural disaster? Laura Bush and others have expressed outrage, but they're a bunch of hypocrites!

What's so interesting is that the U.S. citizens that suffered through Katrina were treated no better than the citizens of Myanmar are being treated right now. And here we are years later and much of New Orleans (the 9th Ward) remains a disaster area.

How does a government justify not providing desparately needed aid to its citizens after a natural disaster? How does a government refuse foreign aid? Why is it that when a hurricane hits Florida or wild fires burn through California, George Bush is on the J-O-B, pledging disaster funds to help folks rebuild, but many people in 9th Ward have not received any such aid?

As far as I'm concerned, this is a matter of human rights. Who determines which lives have value or which lives have more value than others? Why doesn't the current U.S. administration have compassion, empathy, and concern for all of its citizens? As citizens of the United States of America, shouldn't we all be able to rest knowing that in the event of a natural disaster, our government will be there for us? Or should we worry if we are not rich enough or we don't live in the right neighborhoods or we are the wrong color or ethnicity that when our time of need comes, our very own government leaders might turn their backs on us?

Is strikes me as ironic that the U.S. immediately pledged aid after the tsunami and now, after the cyclone, but it took days before the U.S. government made a move to rescue the citizens of New Orleans from the Superdome. How could Barbara Bush, the mother of the President of the United States, say that those people who suffered and lived in filth for days in the Superdome were better off? How callus! How out of touch with reality! As humble as an individual's life might be, no one is ever better off living through a nightmare like Katrina and then having to suffer through the horrific conditions at the Superdome.

Why are some of the Katrina survivors living in mold infested trailers, while millions of dollars are being spent in Iraq? It makes no sense to me. And until our government begins to place as much value on ALL its citizens as is does on war and power and money, none of us should sleep soundly and securely. We might be the next citizens upon whom the U.S. government turns its back.

Thankfully, though, we are on our way to a magnificient change and hopefully, no U.S. citizen will ever be treated as horrifically as the Katrina survivors were and continue to be treated by this administration!