Liberal Compassion

Recently, at work, a young lady posted this up on our bulletin board:

"One night during a violent storm there were hundreds of
starfish washed up on the shore of a beach. A man who religiously walked the
beach every morning was horrified at the condition of these poor starfish,
unable to get themselves back into the sea and facing certain death. He started
to throw the starfish back into the water, one by one. Another man passed him by
on the beach and said, “How could you possibly think that you could make a
difference? You are only one man and there are hundreds of starfish!” The first
man picked up one of the starfish as he was tossing it back into the sea and
said, “It makes a difference to this one.”

Recently I have been made aware through a close friend of mine and
through multi-media forces (movies: “The Invisible Children”, “The Constant
Gardener”, “Blood Diamonds”; book: “What is the What”) that we as Americans are
turning a blind eye to what is happening in Africa. I am not here to judge, but
simply to raise awareness and find out if you are willing to make a difference.
The Sudanese government is killing off their own people simply because they want
to live prosperously and free from physical harm in their own country. Check out
this website and if it moves you, I can guide you on how to get involved
locally.
Thank you for your consideration and support.
www.genocideintervention.net"

Together with the cartoon posted above, something began to stick in my craw.Friday night, I finally sat down and watched John Singleton's Boy'z in the Hood and finally I knew what was in my craw.
At the end of the movie, Ice Cube's character "Doughboy" sums it up perfectly, "They either don't know, don't show or don't care". It is not unfair to say Americans turn a blind eye to what's happening in Africa nor other parts of the world. But what gets me, is that we (Americans) have no trouble ignoring what happens in our own back yard.

We seem so intent on setting a facade of compassion to the third world and being politically correct to illegal immigrants that we are ignoring the third world that exists within our own boundaries. According to the U.S. Department of Labor 30 million people in 2000 were classified as "working poor". By 2003 this number had risen to 35.9 million, 12.5 % of the total U.S. population. These are people trying to make a living but still fall below the poverty level. 4.2 million families that struggle to make ends meet, but fall short.
I am generally opposed to security net plans adminstered by the government (while sound in theory, once politicians get involved, they fall to crap), but if we rearranged our budget, we could make a huge difference.

In 2005 USA gave almost 27.5 billion in foreign aid, more than twice any other country in the world. In addition, it is estimated that the American private sector give at least 34 billion to foreign aid. If we were to redirect even 1 percent of that to our own poor, I believe we would be much better rewarded.

Think globally, act locally. We need to look closer at our own society and instead of complaining about crime or the youth of today or illegal immigrants we need to step up. Instead of sending our indiviual monies overseas, we need to find churches, Salvation Army, Red Cross and outreach programs at home that could really use a boost. Rebuild civic pride and stop "money flight" from our inner cities. Charity starts at home.

I'll get of my soap box now.