2168160 responses to “300,000! What’s it mean to me…to us?”http%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldinconversation.org%2F2010%2F04%2F21%2F300000-whats-it-mean-to-us%2F300%2C000%21++What%27s+it+mean+to+me...to+us%3F2010-04-21+17%3A40%3A19Sam+Richardshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.racerelationsproject.org%2F%3Fp%3D2168
I think people feel like this because simply they are not close to it. They do not have any family members there and they may think it’s sad and take a little time to mourn, but like this girl in the video said it does not directly affect them, therefore, they do not care. If you think about it though what can someone like me (a college student) do to help besides donating money. Then even though you have donated money that is still not enough it seems like for a lot of people. I am sorry if this girl or whomever finds my post offensive, but I am at least taking a small step into helping I do not feel that I have to stop my life and go to some place like Haiti in order for others to think I am actually doing something for them.
That is a good question but I feel like there is a simple answer to it. You said that when a family member passes away it affects us directly, but when three hundred thousand Haitians die it is on the news for a week and we think about it for a little bit but it does not affect us as much. If one of my family members were to pass away I would take time off because it is going to affect my mindset for a while. I will not be able to think straight. My family will come together and bring each other comfort and in time we will get through our times of sorrow together. As for the matter of three-hundred thousand Haitians dying in a tragic earthquake it is not going to affect me as much because I do not know any of them. It is hard to mourn the loss of three-hundred thousand people that you do not know. If it was maybe one person, somebody beloved by all, it would probably hit harder on me, but still not as much as a family member. For example, when Wellington Mara, the New York Giants General Manager and team owner, died it kind of hit me a little bit because I am I die-heart Giants fan, but I still did not think about it for weeks. If you want to help a whole nation like Haiti, I feel like it is up for the U.S. government to take the initiative and help out the country. If that means raising the taxes, then we should raise taxes. The government is the one corporation that has the power to make everyone help in a crisis situation. The problem is, if the government does get involved and raise taxes they are going to make many Americans mad, but why do Americans always ask why can’t we help Haiti? Well if we do then the government is going to make up really upset because they are taking your “hard-work” tax dollars. Like Sam said in class, America is very stingy with their money, and I really do not like that about America. I do not like politics, I do not like people who have the power to do something and sit and do nothing (I don’t know if I have the capability, but I’m probably being a hypocrite because I probably do), I do not like a lot of things about America. Haiti’s situation is very unfortunate and I really hope their country will soon recover from their tragedy and hopefully soon. Therefore, in the end it is hard to mourn the loss of a whole nation and it is even harder trying to figure out how to help a whole nation. I’m not the kind of person who will take the initiative to help a whole nation. I feel that I don’t have the power. Does this make me, does it make us bad people if we don’t help, or don’t know how to help?
Although 300,000 people dying in Haiti is a horrible tragedy, we cannot, as Americans, let that take over our lives. Of course we should feel some way about that, donate money to help, and keep the thoughts about what happened in out minds. But we have to move on, and get on with our lives. That is the case even when a family member dies. You never forget about their passing, you never stop feeling the pain of their passing, but you have to move on. When it is a family member of course it is going to hit you harder and you may take some time off to gather yourself, but in the end you get back to your life. When the tragedy is all the way in another country, you are going to be able to move on even quicker.
Okay this is the situation. This is an obvious observation in this situation. On September 11, 2001, 3,000 plus honest Americans were killed in the tragic crash of the twin towers. The majority of the people working in these building were white Americans or middle to high –class minority people. But when something 10time more disastrous happens like Katrina where the majority where African American people; people just don’t give two shits about it. Really? It’s not like people died instantly and there was nothing anyone can do; people sat there for weeks and suffered with no food, water, or support from our groups. The Haiti earthquake is just another example of black people that people do not care about. I bet if this earthquake resulted in 300,000 Jewish people; everyone would so drastically depressed about and there would be so much more support than there is now. But since 300,000 pure charcoal –skinned black people died people say “Oh wow, that’s sad. Not my life” and keeping moving on without it being a thought. So No it does not make you a bad person that u mourn or feel worse that 1 person you personally know somebody close to. Haiti did not impact us in that sort of way, as losing a family member or friend so it is easy to almost forget about it or not think about how awful is still really is. Things stop in countries it’s directed at so it makes everyone else pay attention and help out, but the world didn't stop when that happened, US business did not close like many did on September 11. Even though many people want to help, there are just no way can we. If you were a concerned citizen and you went to your boss and said I need time off to go help Haiti I guarantee you would be fired. So, since that cannot happen, many people have no other alternative so they just act like they forget about it and people get upset that no one wants to help when that is not really the case. , so it is easy to not keep it at the forefront of our minds all the time. For people who have been to Haiti after the earthquake, it is a life changing experience and they are willing to do whatever they can to help. For the majority of people though, it is a tragic thing that happened… and then we move on and go about our day. Just like in New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina was a terrible natural disaster, Rarely if ever, they say, has a natural disaster so ravaged the crowded capital of an already poor country, devastating both the government and the international agencies that usually step in. For weeks, relief came in the form of food giveaways that resembled a Darwinian sport with biscuits and bottles of canola oil or biscuits thrown like footballs from the backs of trucks to masses of men jockeying for position.
Unfortunately the way human nature often works is that the only thing that matters to us in the end is self preservation and I think that is what this student is getting at. No matter how many people die in a terrorist attack or natural disaster domestic or abroad I think it’s a common psychological response for people to go on with their daily lives if it hasn’t affected them directly. If a family member dies that affects the individual directly because they won’t be able to have that loving relationship with them anymore. That relationship with that person has diminished which in turn means a part of that person has diminished as well. True empathy is really what this class is trying to get at in my opinion. To get someone to care about the life of another of whom which they have no relationship with whatsoever but have the common connection of just being another human being. I think that is when true empathy is achieved.
I've never really thought about it in the comparison to the horrific event of the world trade centers. When the guest speaker told us that 3,000 had died in 9/11 and 300,000 had died in the earthquake of haiti it blew my mind. I never compared the two i just thought as both of them being two of the most horrific tragedies ever. Why didn't our nation mourn like they did when they did for 9/11, we just did what we did to help and kept living our lives. In my mind thats just insane. Not only were 300,000 people killed but close to 3 million were affected and yet they ones who did survive have nothing left, no where to go, nothing to eat, family members are gone and they are just suppose to keep living each day one by one. Even though many countries responded to appeals for humanitarian aid, pledging funds and dispatching rescue and medical teams, engineers and support personnel, do we still expect them to just keep living their lives after all theyve been through? I mean would you? we lose one person in our family in thats a huge deal to us, can you imagine losing your whole family and just expect to live your life with what you have now even though youve just lost everyone in your family? To think that someone you loved so much is gone because of an earthquake that took 30 seconds and yes people are helping and trying to do what they can but that only fixes your physical needs not with how you feel emotionally. Iv personally lost my grandparents and that to me was the end of the world after taking the right time and being with my family thats what heals you, but to lose several of your family members and not be able to have that mourning process with the rest of your family and have that time to yourself because the rest of haiti is going through it, all you have is strangers to release the emotions that you feel. Some people feel that they didnt mourn after knowing what happened because we could not do anything about it. we couldnt change what happened so people will just do what they can to help and move on. I personally took 9/11 to hearth and felt for those people for months and months but i feel much more ashamed now that i know how many people really died in haiti and everything that they went through and my emotions wernt the same between the two horrible tragedies. I feel people are just being ignorant too because just because haiti did not happen in the United States that doesnt mean that they shouldnt care so thats something to think about.
I think that we can be very selfish in world affairs at times because they do not directly affect us, and I do not think that this is wrong or right. We might not really pay attention to it because we might not care or we just do not want to get emotionally attached to anything. Now if a family member or a friend were to be involved in a terrorist attack or major natural disaster, then we would get involved. We just have to keep living, point blank period. If a family member died, you mourn for a a couple weeks, but then you have to move on because if we all acted as if the world were over every time somebody passed away, a lot of things would not get done. All we can do as Americans is be supportive of those who it is directly affecting and send money.
Exactly. No one really wants to dish out all their sad emotions on everything in the world that happens and is sad and tragic. We all save it for the moments when we lose someone truly close to us. I feel like everyone has basically said the same thing. People aren’t bad because they feel that way, we just try and not have everything affect us, because it would drive us crazy in the long run. The people that say I’m wrong I feel are just saying it so they don’t come off as a bad person, and they are NOT! We care more about anything about our loved ones, and that’s the way it should be.
I agree with this student's posting, and I think its really important to put some of these natural disasters and nation wide devastation in context. 300,000 people is a huge number, yet, I don't think too many people know that that many people died in Haiti. I sure didn't, before our guest speaker told us in class on Tuesday. I don't think that people are ignorant to this fact because they don't care, rather I think it can be attributed to the fact that because we don't see it and Haiti is not being pushed in our faces everyday, we don't react as fast. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil; it's practically the same context. The media coverage of Haiti has slowed down recently and as a result, it seems like things are being handled well and Haiti is regaining stability. Unfortunately, from what we learned on Tuesday, this is not the case, although hopes for the nation seem high. We have seen this happen in America with Hurricane Katrina too. It's a hard concept to bring back home, but it helps to hear personal stories about the real situation, accompanied by the statistics, to put everything in perspective again and try to make a difference in any way we can.
I am very glad that Ian came in and spoke to our class about Haiti and his experiences there. While we see coverage of the horrible earthquake and its aftermath on TV and online, it is always more riveting to hear the experience live from someone who was there and saw it with their own eyes. 300,000 people are an excruciating amount of people to die from one single event, and it is still very hard to comprehend that. It is not only 300,000 people that are dead; it’s all of their friends and family that are extremely devastated. The mass graves say it all and are so hard to comprehend.
I definitely don't think people are saying "Oh, 300,000 people are dead. Oh no. How sad. OK, now where was I?" There is definite sadness out there in the world for people who are affected by tragic events such as Haiti, Hurricane Katrina, the plane crash in Poland, and 9/11. My belief is if you don't feel some kind of sadness or other strong emotion, perhaps like anger at the world for causing disasters like this, then you are not truly human. Sam made a similar statement in class the other day, and it definitely resonated with me. So I htink that there is definitely sadness initially. This woman is correct however, that while initially we are sad and eager to donate money and time to help, gradually over time our amount of caring starts to wane and soon, as Sam talked about with the non-profit groups that just bring items rather than secure jobs for the Haitians, the people affected by the disaster may be worse off than before. This could definitely be true with Haiti, however it seems as though the relief efforts are still going strong, which is a welcome sight to see.
I can see the above poster's point that the proximity of the event to you, both geographically and in terms of friends or family involved, is an indication about how much you might continue to care about the effects of the disaster. With 9/11, the events sparked a war that is still going on today. Also, the kind of event it is also can impact the reaction of people. With 9/11, it was a man-made disaster, while with Hurricane Katrina, it was an earthly event. In that sense, people might have "done their part" for a while, but since they weren't as fired up emotionally about the initial damage or the aftermath, the concern began to dissipate. Events like 9/11 that are caused by our fellow humans tend to stir up more potent emotions for us, such as anger for the offenders, and of course, sadness and pity for those affected. This leads to more people willing to help with recovery efforts.
Also, I may pose a thought that it is possible that many people just gave money or offered to help with Haiti simply because it was the "trendy thing to do." I know that sounds rather cynical, but I feel as though that would cover the motivations of a few people. My hope is that it only covers a few people, and that most people, like myself, are motivated to help because they want to help their fellow man, and, as Sam mentioned in class, follow the Golden Rule of doing unto others as you would want others to do to you.
She’s absolutely right. What happened in Haiti is a horrible disaster but I believe some people do care more about tragedy when it affects us directly. As people in society most of us are more caring about ourselves before others and what we have going on in our lives and how we are going to become successful. I’m not bashing this concept I just believe that “most” people in the United States have a me first approach on life. I’m not going to sit here and say I have always thought about others before myself, I would be lying. I don’t know why but sometimes I think about myself as if I was the only person in the world. I forget what I have learned by going to church and how to live through others. God has a golden rule “Do unto others as you would want done to you”. It is such a simple rule but yet very hard for us to live up too. As people, we need to self examine ourselves and ask if what we’re doing is going to help not just ourselves but others as well. Also I don’t want to get to religious but some of us believe that what we do in this life greatly affect where we are in the afterlife. So for people who believe this why aren’t we devoting our lives to helping others? I guess because we feel the need to have better things like TV’s, iPod’s, computers things that shouldn’t be the priority in our lives. So in order to get these things we have to work more and it takes more of a priority than more important things. Its one thing to work to support your family but it’s another to work to get the new iPod touch. As people we need to enjoy the life we have and the people in it before it is too late. Think about what you as a person is going to leave behind you and what you have left the world with after you pass. I have just thought about this myself and I know it’s a lot to digest at once, but I guess this is me brain dumping my feelings after hearing last lecture. The lecture really made me think about my own life and right now I feel I feel I could do better. Not just in school but in the community, with my friends my family, everything. I think appreciation and thankfulness goes a long way and after hearing that lecture on Tuesday I am truly thankful for my family and the people in my life. While also living through others and helping others can make us all better people and help society progress.
I thought that the girl in the video made a very interesting point. I feel like when something big happens like 300,000 people die I would not have the same reaction is if someone in my family or entire family died. I think that if my family members were included in those 300,000 people then it would impact me but it definitely wouldn’t as much if they were not a part of the group of 300,000. When 9/11 happened and all of those innocent citizens died I was shocked, sad, angry, etc. I did not understand how something like this could happen. However, when all of those people died I did not know one person in all of those people. What I’m saying is, yes the tragic event made me think and feel depressed it did NOT impact me in a way that it impacted others. Now if one of my family members died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks it would have been a whole other story. I would have mourned for a really long time and would have been involved with the whole situation a lot more.
This situation has made me think a lot about the way I am. The way I am selfish and only think about myself and my close ones when it comes to something like 300,000 people dying. I am not saying that when 300,000 people die that I do not try to help them out or mourn over it but it is not the same when it is directly affecting me.
I also think that when people hear of a big tragic event that effects many of people and tons of people die that at first they help with the situation but then after they feel as if they have done their duty and just go on with their lives. Take Haiti for example, after the earthquake struck many of people donated money, helped with food, and helped with building new houses. Yet, after they gave their part then they just stopped and feel like they do not have to help out anymore. The people in Haiti are still in need. I think that for us this is kind of selfish. We help out because yes we feel bad but also to make ourselves feel more worthy and feel better about ourselves.
I do not think that when 300,000 people die its not that we "don’t" care. It is a situation that is too big for us and we feel that we cannot do anything about it. When a close family member does you go into a different mindset. If a person died that I didn’t know in that 300,000 group of people or if my mom died this weekend, of course I would be affected more if my mom died. I think it is just in our human nature to feel and care more to those who are closer to us.
I remember the class on the Thursday after the earthquake in Haiti when Sam asked us to all donate some money if we wanted to or if we could. I looked at my friend next to me and I know this sounds so horrible and naïve, but I asked her what it was for. She looked at me with such disbelief that I had no idea about what happened in Haiti. I do not read or watch the news nearly enough so I thought to myself, how would I know? But I realized that I need to start looking into world issues more often.
I feel that many people do what they can to help in situations like Haiti, but how can a person stop living their life because of it? I did donate money to foundations to help Haiti but I did not stop living my life because something bad happened somewhere else in the world. My intentions are not to ignore it and not disregard it, but I am, as most other Americans are, consumed in their lives and do not have enough time to recognize the severity of these issues.
I think the most blatant difference for example between Sam and I would be that he knew people in Haiti so it hit him harder than it hit me. I thought it was tragic and was very sad for all the people’s losses, but I did not have any personal relations or ties with anyone there.
The telethons and the fundraisers are all amazing ways to help Haiti begin to recover and to release awareness but these things will never fully fix all the damage that was done. Even though the earthquake happened months ago, I still think people recognize it and care about it and are willing to continue to help.
In my opinion, if the tragedy hit closer to home, I would be more inclined to think about it and help out with it every day. I know that all disasters are sad and unfortunate, but when it comes to one that I can’t personally help or feel, my mind wanders away from it more often than not.
As for the hurricane in New Orleans, I was able to understand that more than Haiti because it was closer to home and I knew people in that location at that very unfortunate time. People that lost loved ones in the hurricane and in the earthquake will forever be marked by those terrible times. I do not think that each of those two places will ever be able to be like what they used to be, as sad as that is to say. No matter the number of people that died, whether it was 10 or 300,000, I still feel the sadness that came along with the tragedy.
I completely agree with everything that you said. People only care about things generally if it directly affects him or her. Its not just selfish people, it is pretty much everybody. People do care obviously its just not on the same level as they would for something else. Money being raised for Haiti is a perfect example. We all as a class donated money and I am sure other people did additional things individually, but none of us completely stopped our lives to grieve or stopped going to class or stopped going to work. We just keep moving on with our lives and though the people are in our thoughts and prayers we aren't going to stop what were doing. As long as the world is still turning people aren't going to stop their lives unless it directly effects them.
I think that something like this is completely horrible and devastating-but that you are right, people seem to move on. This has something to do with the “us and them” phenomenon that has happened between countries. We are not all humans- not simply people. But we are people with an identity that seems to root in where we are from. And when something happens to them-we feel badly because we know those were humans, but people seem to also think: that god it wasn’t us. This is terrible and one of the many points that I wish people could understand. We are not US and THEM, those lines are invisible-we are all humanity and you are right, we should all be effected by anything that happens.
Joseph Stalin put it in very realistic way, saying that "One death is a tragedy, one million is a statistic". I understand this quote is devoid of most human emotion and morals, but it has some merit. When one person, be it a friend, a family member, or even a public figure or famous person dies, its usually a large emotional deal for the immediate family of those involved and, in the famous person example, the media goes into a frenzy and talks about that person all the time. However, when a global catastrophe occurs, and hundreds of thousands if not millions of people are effected, the news media doesn't ever put names to faces. Instead, they go by the numbers and say how horrible it is. Sure the family of the people who died are going to be upset, but to the world around them who didn't know the names of each individual that died is only going to be concerned with the numbers. How many people died? How many people are wounded? How much money do we need to lend our support? How many troops must we send over to help? We use the statistical data to kind of desensitize ourselves to how grand the issue truly is, and therefore we are better able to cope with it, and handle the situation accordingly. That isn't to say that everyone who dies doesn't deserve the same mourning and emotional response, but the reason we can continue to go on with our lives after a massive wave of death is because we're used to it. Massive global catastrophes have been going on for centuries, and as people, we've become desensitized to large scale tragedy. The only people who can truly say how horrible these events are, are those who have had family or close friends directly involved. Those are the people who's lives will change after a major event. Those are the people who will mourn and have to take time off from their lives to figure out what is going on. Not that its an excuse, but when people die on a massive scale, I'll send money or food to help out those in need, but for me to halt my life when it has not been directly affected, is too much to ask. If everyone in the world were to take every single tragedy to heart and mourn for days or weeks or months, the world would never be able to function properly in the way that we are used to having it function. We need the people who can look past the devastation, look past the horrible calamity, look past the emotion that they are "supposed to be feeling" and actually lend a hand to those in need. If everyone just stopped what they were doing to really appreciate the sacrifice of the people in these tragedies, then the world we know would halt and more problems than anyone could have imagined would arise.
I definitely liked Tuesday’s class because even though we all know what happened in Haiti, it is always good to see a different point of view about the situation like Ian did. He allowed me to look at the situation in a different way than I was doing before. It was really eye-opening to see all of the photos and to see how terrible the situation really is down there. I also agree that the best way to help with the situation is to physically send people down to Haiti to help out. Yes, sending money is always going to help the cause, but I feel like if we physically help, hands-on, then the relief would get there quicker than just sending money.
I think your question is stupid. It’s generally human nature to have the mindset of “out of site, out of mind”. And to say not much help has been given is crazy. Haitians received over one billion dollars in aid. How about all the food Haitians receive. The UN provided 2 million meals on a particular day after the earthquake. As we learned in lecture on Tuesday, this money is only making a worse economic situation for them. I feel like more people would try to help if they were right there and could help with physical labor, but we’re not.
I don’t think she was asking why we aren’t helping more. I think she was asking why we don’t seem to care about 300,000 people dying. I agree with you that out of sight out of mind comes into play here. I mean with September 11th it was right in our nation. We knew people affected by it. I also see where you are coming from saying we sent a lot of help, but I just think she was asking why its only been 3 months and we have already stopped talking about it in the news and act like everything is now fine.
I think you've raised some great questions here. Questions that made me think for awhile about the disaster in Haiti and what we heard in class on Tuesday. Do we have a responsibility to help? I think we do. It's easy to sit here and do nothing though and continue going on with our lives. But it's not difficult to do something that makes a difference. Like Ian said, it's easier to make a bigger difference in a country that so desperately needs help and aid. At the very least, Haiti's unfortunate and dire situation should remind us to be thankful for what we have, for the luxuries in our life (like running water, grocery stores around the corner, and a place to sleep at night) and maybe to share some of our relative wealth. I think part of the reason why people read about these catastrophic events in the news or online and say, "oh my god, that's horrible," but then continue on with their lives is because they've never known or seen such a disaster or have seen how it directly affects them. It can be hard sometimes to see a direct relation as to how something like this affects us. But I think Tuesdays class helped put it into perspective for me, at least. When I found out that the aid money that the U.S. is sending is really just benefiting our own economy I was a little shocked. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, and the U.S. one of the wealthiest, if not the most wealthy. And like Sam said, the people in the lowest 10% of socioeconomic status here in the U.S. are still better off than the people in Haiti.
I think one of the problems is that so many Americans have the view from their microcosm and can only think about what is happening in the present day. I think people also have trouble putting themselves in another person's shoes. Yes, it can be hard to think about what it would be like if suddenly 300,000 Americans were killed here in the U.S. because of an Earthquake and that we didn't have any food or fresh water to drink. But think about how we felt on 9/11 or after Hurricane Katrina. Do you think people felt more empathy for those injured and killed in the attacks and the natural disaster here than they do for the victims in Haiti? I think that people become desensitized to "giving" towards a problem that probably will take decades to solve, ie. hunger in Africa or rebuilding Haiti. People are much more willing write a check now and say, "Ok, this solves an imminent problem and I did my part." The only people who can truly say how horrible these events are, are those who have had family or close friends directly involved. But in any event, we should all try our best to imagine ourselves in that situation and think about the Golden Rule that Same talked about. How would we want others to react if this happened to the U.S. and directly affected us
Although I do agree that it is a really shocking thing to know that 300,000 people died and we act as though it was 3 people, I do not think it is anything like September 11th. The only reason I say that is because America was attacked by terrorists on 9/11. People died because of other people not because of a natural phenomenon. I do agree it’s horrible that we don’t think about this more because 300,000 people is a lot. If it was my family of course I would care more. The more I think of it the worse I feel because everyone should care more and I don’t now why we don’t.
I understand how easy it is for people to say what do I have to worry about other people, when they are going through struggles about the university sending you notices about paying your tuition; however, I can also understand how insensitive that may be. We all fall victim of it, myself included. Since we are in such a fast pace world it is hard not to fall victim to it. We all just need to take time to acknowledge others around the world and step outside of our big box. I remember talking about this “why should we care” subject earlier in the semester with Native Americans. Except this event was an unfortunate event that happened in Haiti. I know I have an answer that is right to me but may not be to everyone, which is to help in any way that is convenient to you. Because what people do not realize is every little bit helps, and if everyone helps in small parts there will be a big outcome. I would love to go to Haiti and help them rebuild their economic economy as well as their neighborhoods. Also 300,000 people is a lot, I mean Hurricane Katrina displaced tens of thousands of people too, and to this day people still have not bounced back. I feel we have a need to acknowledge these people and help them in ways that will not only help them but help rebuild their communities. I never thought that we were crippling them. I know the old saying give a man fish he will eat 1 day, teach man to fish he will eat forever, and that is what our guest was speaking about on Tuesday, which makes a whole lot of sense than giving them everything. In addition, to recognizing we need to not be so quickly to forget about them. As references were made to September 11th terrorist attacks, 100 more times people died and 2.5million of the people were displaced in the earth quake in Haiti, and yet because September was an American tragedy we will always remember, not to say that is any more or less important. Just asking the question why is the reason we remember things that happen close to home or sole to American and not others. I also have a theory which may not be true or it may be, anyways my theory is that if you build someone else up it you are intentionally build yourself up too, and the end result will be that you will do better as well the other party. After Haiti took over their colony back if the United States was to recognize them as they should have Haiti would be thriving thus saving us money and everyone would be better or off. I don’t know I just feel like everything that America is so corrupt and everything is based around lies or not whole stories, and that everyone is out for their own benefit. As an ending point Sam said his point is not to make us feel guilty about being Americans or hating out country or its leaders but to get a different aspect, but I can’t help myself from feeling that way.
I think that there is a big difference between not taking the time to help after a tragedy has occurred and believing that you should not have to. I think that it is important to make a distinction because I know many many people (my self often included) who may want to help and make a difference after something terrible has occurred but for whatever the reason may be, don't. And furthermore just because you do not do anything during a time of need somewhere in the world, whether it be in our own country, in Haiti, or anywhere else, it does not mean that you believe we should all just move on. Unfortunately not all of us have the time, money, and other resources to help when help is needed. Especially as college students, sometimes even ten dollars can be a lot to ask for. While I think that it is unfortunate that we cannot always help when we want to, I do not think that means that people who do not help, do not care, and think we should just get on with our lives. For example my roommate has a strong passion for giving back to the world. She wants to spend her life working for non-profit organizations and volunteering to help make a difference in the lives of people everywhere. Since we are graduating soon she has been looking into ways to do what she has decided she is meant to do, and has found it very difficult. Many organization require you to pay thousands of dollars before you can go and volunteer. Or they require you to be skilled in ways that a normal civilian may not be skilled. As a student about to graduate from college, my roommate does not have the funds to pay three thousand dollars and then be able to help children in Africa. This is why she was so excited during the last lecture when the speaker told her all she has to do is buy a plane ticket and get vaccinated and that she can come help out in Haiti. It's that simple. But more often than not, this is not the case. Because its not like you can just hop a flight to Haiti and try to help out. It doesn't work that way. And even when you are presented with the opportunity to help others in need, it does not make you a bad person if you choose to instead take a test for a class. Being a college graduate is something that is important as well and I do not think its even fair to try to compare helping people and gaining an education or working hard at your job. If you can do both then thats great. But if you can't just drop everything and forget about all of your classes, but you still care about the 300,000 people in Haiti who have died and you still care about helping them, then hopefully one day you will, and even if you don't, that doesn't make you a bad person.
I think it becomes very easy for us to forget what happened such a short time ago if it does not directly affect us, as my classmate stated and was demonstrated when so few people in class on Tuesday remembered the day the earthquake hit. I think that most definitely the people affected by the horrendous disaster that happened in January are still reeling from the effects, and that included people in the U.S. and all around the world with ties in Haiti. I hope that people have not moved on, although it appears as some have, from one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent history and I hope people are still motivated to help in positive ways.
300,000 people is not something just to overlook but she said it herself, people don’t think it directly affects us. When something happens that doesn’t affect us, what are we supposed to do? We have been doing everything to help like donating money. Personally I cannot travel to the disaster site because of school and other commitments unless I took off and went to help. If she is saying we should be doing that then I might have to agree but I feel like I cannot do anything that I haven’t already done to help. There is only so much someone can do.
I have to disagree and say that I do not think the majority of people are not helping because they do not want to. I think a lot of people, if they could help, would want to. The thing is, life does not stop, even if we want it to. We take moments of silence to mourn the loss, but we still have to go on with our daily life. Not everyone has the luxury or the ability to help out as much as they want to or feel that they should.
For me, I feel conflicted in a lot of ways. There is only so much I can do, and only so much I can give. I donate as much money as I can, but are a couple of dollars really enough to make a difference in these people’s lives after being confronted with utter devastation? I feel that it probably does not make that big of a difference, but I hope, and I think that it probably makes a small difference.
If I could spend a month in Haiti helping out, and everything else could be put on hold, I would probably do so as well, and I think a lot of people feel the same way. I would love to go down there and offer my assistance, and view the issues first hand. I would love to talk to people, and try to understand their situation, and volunteer my time. The issue is, we cannot put our lives on hold, and Penn State is not going to allow us to pause our education. So we have to move on. Not because we choose too, because we really do not have a choice.
I think moving on, and making myself a better person, is in fact helping others out in the long run. If I get a good education, graduate, and get a good job, then there may be a time in my life where I will be in a situation where I can donate an amount of money that really makes a difference. If I do everything I need to do now, hopefully one day I will be able to take some time out and help out in a way that is actually beneficial.
I think for now as long as we are sympathetic to the situation and do as much as we can, we are doing the right thing. The right thing could even be talking about it to your friends and family. The right thing could be simply trying to understand, and being sympathetic and understanding in as many ways as possible. Some times this kind of support is just as important as any other kind.
In this world people do not know what they have until they lose it. People cannot care about others if those 'others' are not directly in their lives we can sympathize but that's pretty much it. Unfortunately that is how some people work in this world. Maybe those have lost loved ones in 9/11 or in some other accident know and understand those pains. Maybe those who have worried about having enough food on the table, could understand their pain.But if people put themselves in the shoes of those Haitians who have lost loved ones and have no money to feed their children or themselves, they would not continue eating their dinners after hearing about this tragedy they would probably try looking for the next flight to Haiti.
However not everyone in the world is like this, for example I would love to go down to Haiti and lend a helping hand however helping costs money and I do not have the money to buy a ticket to Haiti and have enough money to maintain myself for however long I would like to stay. In Tuesday's lecture we were asked that if we wanted to help, we could put our name and email address down for more information. So I guess I just have to wait and see what they tell me. Until then I just hear about all the stuff that is going on down there, feel compassion and then go about my daily life.
There is a simple answer to that question…because it does not effect you or anyone who doesn't know a Haitian, personally. If it were OUR family member, friend, significant other, it would be the end of the world for US. As a human race, we are naturally selfish, and the less something effects us, the less obligations we feel we have to react. It is the honest truth but it is reality.
I think you've raised some great questions here. Questions that made me think for awhile about the disaster in Haiti and what we heard in class on Tuesday. Do we have a responsibility to help? I think we do. It's easy to sit here and do nothing though and continue going on with our lives. But it's not difficult to do something that makes a difference. Like Ian said, it's easier to make a bigger difference in a country that so desperately needs help and aid. At the very least, Haiti's unfortunate and dire situation should remind us to be thankful for what we have, for the luxuries in our life (like running water, grocery stores around the corner, and a place to sleep at night) and maybe to share some of our relative wealth. I think part of the reason why people read about these catastrophic events in the news or online and say, "oh my god, that's horrible," but then continue on with their lives is because they've never known or seen such a disaster or have seen how it directly affects them. It can be hard sometimes to see a direct relation as to how something like this affects us. But I think Tuesdays class helped put it into perspective for me, at least. When I found out that the aid money that the U.S. is sending is really just benefiting our own economy I was a little shocked. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, and the U.S. one of the wealthiest, if not the most wealthy. And like Sam said, the people in the lowest 10% of socioeconomic status here in the U.S. are still better off than the people in Haiti.
I think one of the problems is that so many Americans have the view from their microcosm and can only think about what is happening in the present day. I think people also have trouble putting themselves in another person's shoes. Yes, it can be hard to think about what it would be like if suddenly 300,000 Americans were killed here in the U.S. because of an Earthquake and that we didn't have any food or fresh water to drink. But think about how we felt on 9/11 or after Hurricane Katrina. Do you think people felt more empathy for those injured and killed in the attacks and the natural disaster here than they do for the victims in Haiti? I think that people become desensitized to "giving" towards a problem that probably will take decades to solve, ie. hunger in Africa or rebuilding Haiti. People are much more willing write a check now and say, "Ok, this solves an imminent problem and I did my part." The only people who can truly say how horrible these events are, are those who have had family or close friends directly involved. But in any event, we should all try our best to imagine ourselves in that situation and think about the Golden Rule that Same talked about.
It really is crazy to see this tremendous devastation occur and most Americans not doing anything to help and even more moving on with their lives as if nothing has happened. Especially when they stated in the video that Sam posted about how these Haitian people will be living in these tent villages for years to come. The reality is that like someone stated in class, only doctors and non-profit organizations were going down these soon after the tragedy occurred. Today, it still is kind of hard to go down there and help out without being involved with an organization and finding a way to really change the terrible economy that Haitian are having to deal with right now. Maybe all most people know to do right now is give any extra money they can to the people of Haiti and encourage those people who can really make a change to down these to do so.
Of course people want to help, what sensible person wouldn't? it's just not that simple. If people could stop world hunger and poverty, they would. But you have to realize that it is much more complicated than that. You can donate money, which is good, but it won't make much of a difference. Actually it hurt them when we donated money. The money was spent to buy food that was given to the Haitians for free, so nobody could sell food anymore. This hurt the already devastated economy, and was hurting Haiti's chances of recovering. So if donating money isn't an option, what else can we do? Really nothing, only the government has the power to make a difference. It also isn't our responsibilty to care of the entire world. Another earthquake hit Chile and that was also another massive disaster. Should America take care of that problem as well? It would cost billions of dollars to help Haiti, and it is a long process. Chile is another situation that would cost us billions and billions, if not trillions of dollars to help with.
America may be the most powerful country in the world, but it isn't invincible. We have to worry about our country as well, even though that sounds cruel. We are in an economic crisis, and our President just signed a health care bill giving free health care to everyone. On top of that illegal immigration is costing us a lot of money, along with the unnecessary war on Iraq. Although these all seem like excuses and not reasons, they are valid. America could put a serious effort into helping Haiti, and devote billions of dollars annually for the next couple of decades to improve all those peoples lives. But at what cost? would Americans be fine with the government helping Haiti and having it's citizens become poorer and poorer.
They should be fine with that, but i imagine that most would definatley dislike that plan, because it doesn't benefit us. Thats the real problem. If something isn't effecting us, we are far more likely to not care about it as much as we should. I think that when we hear about 300,000 people dieing and compare that to the 3,000 that died on September 11, we really need to consider the extent of this crisis. If a crisis like what happened in Haiti, happened in New York City, how different would it be. The entire state, and everyone who has relatives that live in New York would be working to help, because it effects them. People from other states would help because it is fellow Americans, but not to the extent that people who are personally by the tragedy would.
Unfortunately, that’s the way we are…. As a nation, and as humans. It is human nature to try and forget the rough times (and that includes sad incidents or memories). I agree with you completely. I actually think about that a lot. I know I would absolutely be a mess if anything at all happened to my family or a friend. But somehow, when these HUGE tragedies happens in a land far, far away—it’s easier to just forget and let go. Maybe it’s because we don’t want to think about it? Or feel guilty, or feel obligated to do something. I know sometimes I feel really terrible when I start thinking about the world and the numerous horrible things going on. I feel almost trapped—like I can’t do anything. So I find it easier not to think about it as much, unfortunately. However, there’s the occasional times when something really does hit me — like the book we read about slave trade. I am absolutely REPULSED by the slave trade industry and I have really been making a truly conscious effort to watch what I buy, where I buy it etc. When I see wal-mart and K-mart and all those other little chain stores, all I can think of is the poor children’s faces, the bodies that were literally ripped apart and beaten. I feel the older we get, the more we try to forget things. We get caught up in our own life, our schoolwork, our relationships, our social life— most of us are in our own bubble. I know I am. I am happily living in this little bubble we call Penn State—where the majority of what I think about is my dwindling meal points, my lion cash, what party I’m going to this weekend, what homework I have. It is unfortunate, yes, but I do not think we can completely blame ourselves for not thinking about it. We are in such a whirlwind time of our life where everything is happening at once—whether we’re figuring out what we want to do with our lives, or simply just trying to get through the day. In high school, I was pretty aware of everything that was going on—but that’s because we were being tested on it in different ways. In some ways, I kind of hope that when I get older and get a job, I will be more aware and conscientious to all the tragedies, and do the best I can to bring help (as well as awareness). What you said is true, we are all people—and though these things happen on the other side of the world, they are real. They are real people’s lives, real people’s brothers/sisters/moms/dads/aunts/uncles/friends etc. I hope that I can find a balance between feeling terribly guilty and sad, with being aware and trying to help as much I can.
I think its really though when something like this hits such an already-poor country. Its like if conditions weren’t crappy enough now they have to deal with one of the worst natural disasters of all time that has devastated Haiti’s infrastructure, economy, and many other facets. I really enjoyed last class when Ian came in and talked about his personal experience there. The fact that stuck with me well after class was over was that the United States gives the most money but as a percentage of our GDP it is among the least amount given. Personally, I think this is really quite a travesty and another misstep on the part of the US government. And, yes, I know we’ve been going through a recession recently and God knows I’m no business or finance major, but are you telling me the United States can’t give as much of our GDP as Portugal? Really? Sure the recession sucks, but some people without jobs is a little better than people dying without shelter, food and water, and an even close to stable economy. And I don’t feel like anytime a country screws up their economy or something and they need more money we should just go in and pick them up. But Haiti was in a sense a pedestrian that got run over and now they need help with the hospital bills. Being in a country that is so plentiful we can go to the grocery store and choose from 17 different pasta sauces and 100 cereals, I really hope that our government isn’t being as cheap as they seem. I was also thinking a lot about what Sam said the other night about his philosophy that those who have more should help the people with less. I totally agree with this, and I feel my opinion wouldn’t change whether I was rich or poor. The fact of the matter is that money may not be able to buy “happiness” in the sense of making your life instantly more satisfying (when it sucked before), but it sure can do a lot for a nation full of poverty. And even at a lower level, I always feel athletes and celebrities should be giving a large portion of their salaries to charities. They are already ridiculously overpaid (Big Ben making $102 mil over 8 years=WTF), and it is part of their obligation as professionals and role models to give to charities, and I sense that overall, not that many athletes do and that is a shame. In a sense this is what Sam has been hinting at the whole year with the King of the Hill stuff. The people with the money are at the top of the hill and they make the decisions. If they want, they could give some of their enormous wealth to help some others get up the hill or they can just use it themselves to push themselves further and further up the summit….
I understand what this person is saying completely. I personally feel guilty that I am not doing more to help, and honestly, that I am not more sad. I mean obviously I am sad about what happened, but I didn’t cry. I didn’t lose sleep over it, it didn’t stop my day to day activities. I feel like a bad person because I am not more sad about it. I try. I try to understand and to imagine what those people are going through, but I can’t. I’ve looked at pictures, I’ve talked to people who have gone to Haiti, and still I just can’t put myself there and I can’t imagine it. It doesn’t affect me directly, so I can’t really empathize. I wish there was something I could do, but I just feel like there isn’t. I can’t stop going to class to go there and help, I can’t donate large amounts of money. I’m really glad that Sam collects money for Haiti because it makes me feel like I am doing something, but really, is that 10-15 dollars that I’ve donated really going to make a difference?
I think this is a really hard question to answer. When we had the attacks on the World Trade Centers on September 11th, I remember being let out of school at noon and going home. Yet we had to come back to school the next day and the teachers were not to talk to us about it, only a letter was sent home with us to our parents. That happened on our home soil to our own people, yet my school, my family’s school, my parents work, we all went on with our daily lives the next day. Obviously we watched the news and such for the weeks following to see what progressed but something happened four hours away from me and yes I feel terrible for the people whose lives were lost, but I did not do anything to even help my own country. And I am not saying I would never ever help out if something would happen again, but what can I do to help? I could volunteer my whole summer to go to Haiti but what could I honestly do to help? I am no doctor, I cannot lift heavy things, what could I possibly do to help????? I was considering for a while trying to go with some organization to help but when Ian came in to talk, I realized I would just be in the way. And not only would I be in the way, but hands down I could just not handle it. When he talked about the mass graves my heart literally skipped a beat; if I were to actually be there I would just lose it and just be a burden. Of course I want people who are qualified and such to go down to Haiti and help. Of course I want people to keep giving money to organizations who know what Haiti needs at the moment. But me? What can I do? I’m a twenty year old college student with no money. All I can really do I think is say that my parents gave a lot of money towards Haiti and that I honestly hope for the best. When you say that we are more worried about taking a test than what is happening in Haiti, that kind of rubs me the wrong way. It does because what else am I supposed to do? Worry myself to death about all of the lives lost? If I were to drop what I am doing every time something happens in the world, I would not still be in college. There is a point where if you are not directly affected by something that happened in the world, of course you can feel sorrow for what happened, but I cannot let it affect my everyday life and what I have going. It may sound selfish, but I do not know what else I could do.
Unfortunately, I think that the tragedy in Haiti is a similar situation to September 11th, Hurricane Katrina or even the tsunami a few years back in Thailand. International attention is immediately focused on the devastated area, and the whole world seems to come together to mourn. People try to see what they can send or donate to help at first, but unless they are directly affected, everyone goes back to life as normal. While I understand that the people of Haiti need the help and support of the rest of the world to get back on their feet, but I also think it’s understandable how people who are “unaffected” go on with their lives as usual shortly after a tragedy occurs.
The disheartening fact is that many people don’t give to help Haiti because they are not directly affected by the events that took place in this small, distant nation. Think about it…would many of the people in class donated any money to Haiti had Sam not said something. The sad and realistic answer is no. It’s terrible, but many people don’t care because it isn’t affecting their everyday lives. Additionally, I believe people don’t give support because they simply choose to ignore the events that took place. When you ignore things like this, the suffering and destruction become someone else’s problem. Others fall victim to the “Bystander Affect”. This term refers to the idea that people don’t help others because they think other people will step in and do the work that they could easily do themselves. It’s a plain shame!
Although we are all a part of one world, it is easy to focus on what is right in front of you and see the world in a close view. It is also easy to overlook or forget certain disasters, such as the earthquake in Haiti because the media is quick paced, constantly focusing on the next big disaster or issue. The media also prefers to package stories in a way that allows for a beginning, middle and end. The media breaks a story, assesses the situation and seems to try and end on a positive note, with success stories. The media does not want to keep coming back to Haiti if it will not pique audience interest. The bottom line is audiences prefer a happy story, rather than a seemingly hopeless one. The media is a business, and the news filtered through must be more questioned. In today’s world with 24/7 access to information, it is kind of amazing what does and does not reach an audience. If Sam did not remind us of how Haiti will never be the same, it is unlikely that I would fully understand the depth of the situation. That is not to say that I would not think back to the disaster and feel sadness, but I would not understand the ripple effect of this truly devastating occurrence. When people do not understand the depth of a problem, it is easy to look the other way and go on with life. As a culture, we are pretty desensitized to violence and death. It seems statistics have taken a hold of coverage, rather than in depth analysis of where exactly these numbers come from. I’m a communications major and became alarmingly awareness of this freshman year in a journalism class. We discussed the ethics of publishing a picture of a car accident. The picture showed a mangled car, and a figure in the front seat. The figure was a man who had died in the accident. The implications of publishing such a photo were various, but one was how the family may feel upon seeing the photo. To readers, this was just another car accident, a statistic. To the family of the man who passed away, it was their father, brother, uncle, son, photographed, lifeless. To the family, their lives would be forever changed. To the public, this was an explanation as to why there was traffic at 7 pm on an expressway. This is neither positive nor negative, as the function of the media is to be gatekeepers of information to the public. Each news story cannot delve into the implications of each incident, accident or disaster. The media by nature can only give a snapshot of reality to the public. This leaves the real investigative work up to the viewer. I say this with myself included, it is easier to move on without full understanding of a situation that it is to take time to understand the implications of an event. It is easier to know that something horrible happened and send money to aid a situation, than it is to venture to say, Haiti, and fully grasp what must be done to rectify the situation. I’ve learned from this class that we must just not stay current on current events, but stay current on past events to have a full grasp of reality.
I think that people do want to help, they just don't know what they can do. But really, what can they do? all you can do is donate money, and according the man who came and spoke to us on 4/20, that was actually hurting the Haitian economy. People feel as though one person can't make a difference, and i feel as though most people are too lazy to do anything because no matter what, their life doesn't change from the earthquake in Haiti. People still buy clothes from Nike when they know that Asian children are being worked for pennies an hour in some sweatshop, to make those clothes. I'm shocked after the presentation on the Ivory Coast and how people there pick coco, that some people still eat chocolate. Those people aren't cruel, they just feel as though nothing they do will make a difference, because "one person cant make a difference"
I think this video helps illustrate why so many people think Americans are arrogant and only think about their own country. When something happens that doesn’t directly affect us, we make it seem as though it is not our problem. However, it essentially is our problem because many of the countries who have had natural disasters or catastrophes depend on us to give them aid. If larger and wealthier countries weren’t able to help them in their time of need, they would cease to exist. I think some of the recent tragedies that have happened to the US come to such a shock to many Americans because we are simply not use to catastrophe. I almost feel as though we believe we are so superior that we are almost obsolete to tragedy. That is why many Americans panic after something truly horrific happens; they are not used to some of the tragic events that other people have to go through. I know a lot of people stepped up and helped during the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers and Hurricane Katrina, but many Americans simply didn’t do anything about it. Because many Americans weren’t directly affected, they believed that it wasn’t there issue to help resolve. If Americans can’t even help out fellow Americans, they are definitely not going to help others that don’t even belong to their country. I think Americans are more likely to help others Americans then those from other countries. I think most of this has to do with the fact that many Americans were raised on the fact that America is indeed superior. It’s as if people think another country deserves something terrible to happen to them because they aren’t as good as the United States is. I think this has something to do with why Americans are hesitant to offer aid. I also believe that Americans are used to benefiting their lives instead of others. Many Americans believe in the philosophy of “I scratch your back, you scratch mine.” However, many people aren’t going to offer aid without the opportunity to gain something in return. Not to say that there aren’t people in this world that simply help out others because they are genuinely nice people, but most people are only concerned in receiving a reward. For many people, they will only help if they are recognized, if your efforts are going to go unnoticed, you are less likely to extend some aid. The real beauty of giving back is by doing something that you will not be recognized for. No one is going to know if you donate money to a cause or not, but by doing it and not telling anybody, is the true meaning of helping others.
I'm sure that everyone has heard about the idea of going back in the past and having a butterfly land on a surface. Then suddenly our whole current world is completely different. Every little thing that happens in this world will eventually effect everything else. We aren't changing the world by doing what we do, we're making it. Think about four degrees of separation; I'm connected to every human being on this earth somehow. So although I may not know these 300,000 people who have died, they have somehow in some way, made my life the way it is now. Not changed it, made it. Where would I be had those people not died? My life could be completely different right now; but I feel no sorrow, and I feel no thanks. My life just is what it is. That's pathetic. On september 11, 2001, I cried. I barely understand what was going on, but I was terrified. I wasn't related to a single person working in the World Trade Center that day, but the attack brought so much sadness on my family and I. Within a week, we were all fine. Under the rubble, we could only go up from there. Others today are probably still grieving from the deaths that occurred that day. Although I don't know the people that died from this tragedy, or the thousands of people who die each and every day, I need to start being more aware. These people have an affect on me that I don't even realize. On all of us.
300,000 is a number I cannot wrap my mind around. It killed 300,000, wounded 300,000, and left over a million homeless. If September 11th did not put it in perspective, I read a comparison to the atomic bombing in Hiroshima recently. The death toll in Haiti was two times the number in Hiroshima. It just is impactful to say the least. I, or we, lost 300,000 of our own people. If there is little I can do or if there is nothing concrete I can get my little hands on, the least I can do is recognize and take the time to consider, understand what is going on. I lend my support and optimism for Haiti.
I mean I think we're just draw to other people in our average proximity. I don't think this makes us bad people. I don't think the means we're careless or insensitive. I feel closer to my roomates than the average person because I live with them. Because I share so many things with them. We go to the same school. We lead similar lives. And its that closeness that would distinguish them from the others random people I walk by every day. Its that same–yet obviously different– closeness I feel like when I compare Americans to those abroad. In comparison, Americans are my roomates, and the rest are just the random people I walk by down the street.
A lot of people died in Haiti and are continuing to die every day. I have never thought of Haiti, heard of Haiti, nor do I know anything about it including its location. To be honest I didn’t even hear about the disaster the day it happened, I wasn’t aware until about two days later because I decided to pick up a newspaper. I am not too sure how I feel about the whole situation; I will try to not seem too cold about it. This disaster was horrifying, tragic, and life changing for those people in Haiti. My remorse for those who died, those who suffered, and those who lost family and friends, and those who remained trapped for days is immense. People never think about things like this until after they happen. However, as a student I cannot afford to personally go there and help. We also heard that the money being donated in a way is hurting the country because it is being used in the wrong way so what are we to do. It is very true that people easily forget about things like this. How could people not? Especially something that is not in our country, something that really has little connection to our lifestyle. I don’t think that anybody needs to feel bad for continuing on with their lives. Why would people choose to sit around and mourn instead of going on with their everyday life? It is a lot easier to just forget, who wants to sit down and think about all the stuff that is going on? All the people dying, all the sadness, no one really. I feel that if you can make a difference, or have the potential to make a difference you should. However I do not feel that it is necessary to sit around and think about disasters like this all the time, things that do not directly correlate to your everyday life , instead of going out and continuing to live your life. If you can help, that’s great! Do whatever you can, in this case I am far from Haiti and have never even heard of it I do not feel I need to let it affect my life. I donated money to help and left it at that. My opinion might sounds cruel but this is just how I feel. Haiti was one of the poorest countries in the World, and from what Sam said that is the United States’ fault from a long time ago. Pumping all this money into it now when they have nothing to do with it and are using it in a way that isn’t benefiting anyone in the long run seems like a waste to me. People need to collaborate and come together, this is the only way to help. People that can help great, keep helping, others who cannot I feel should continue on with their lives and not feel guilty about it.
300,000. The number is certainly staggering, but to be frank? I hadn't even taken notice of it until Tuesday's lecture. Numbers are thrown at us constantly, and to me, they've lost their meaning. Numbers can be big or small, far or close, and I still have issues grasping onto them.
This is I don't get about pulling out a figure like 300,000: people die every single day, in countless tragic (and natural) ways. Suicides, gang warfare, natural deaths–they all occur. They're, all just as sad, just as tragic, as any other death. They're all lost life. If we mourned every single death of every single individual, then we'd literally never stop mourning. Now, I'm not saying that 300,000 deaths in one place isn't significant–a number like that completely changes the culture and the lives of the people in that area–but I don't think it's fair to throw a number at us to explain why it's significant. Yes,the deaths are sad, but it's the annihilation of a lifestyle that's tragic. Every single person in Haiti was affected by the earthquake–every single person's life was dramatically altered. I think it's the destruction of the culture that's the cause for alarm.
Yes, it's our job to help them rebuild, but it's not our job to mourn for them. To be shocked, to be sad, to want to help–yes. But to mourn? I think mourning for someone you don't know can be shallow, can demean the process. Rather than mourning a loss that may not be ours, I think we should focus on helping the people who remain.
…but, okay, I have another question about Tuesday's lecture. Do we really just help other people because, ultimately, it's beneficial to ourselves? I've been thinking a lot about this issue recently (specifically in regard to Ayn Rand's philosophy of objectivism — admittedly, I have never read any of her work and only know fragments of her thoughts, so please forgive me in advance for butchering any of the concepts she presents), and I think it comes down to fundamental ideas about our individual purpose on the earth. Should my goal be to manipulate the system to best serve my needso? To just be happy? Or to give to others–to give myself and to contribute directly to the people around me?
I tend to believe in the last one. I have no idea what'll happen when I die. Eventually, the earth will end (the sun will explore, or global warming will destroy the planet, or what have you). Every single book, every building, every dollar bill, everything physical will be gone. I don't have particular religious beliefs, but the only thing that I think has any type of potential permanence is energy–souls, I guess. So, the way I see it is if I can contribute positivesly to both my energy and the energy of other, then that's more lasting than anything else I can do with my life.
But is it all just about benefiting ourselves, in the end? Is that ultimately why we help others?
Tuesday’s lecture about the devastating tragedy that recently occurred in Haiti was truly an eye opener for me. It’s one thing to hear about it on the news and read articles about it, but actually seeing the pictures and hearing the raw/personal stories from someone who went to the country and experienced the aftermath first hand, really put things in a totally new perspective for me. The moment that the picture was shown in which the man was standing on the pile of dead bodies in mourning, I was completely lost for words. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before, and my heart genuinely broke for the country and those who were affected by the natural disaster. It’s one of those things were I knew it was bad, but I didn’t realize HOW BAD it actually was; simply hearing the total death count sent chills up my body. Sitting in on that lecture really made me want to become more proactive and look into more ways in which I could do something to help. One thing that was brought up in lecture that I think the public needs to become much more aware of, is how the donations (texts donating money, water, food, etc.) can be counterproductive in getting the country to progress and move towards rebuilding their lives. If more people realized that this could ultimately make Haiti dependent/beggars, maybe they would better research organizations, which could lead to them actually learning more about the situation as opposed to sending a text message and forgetting about it the next day.
In lecture, someone brought up the fact that as soon as the earthquake in Chile occurred, the media’s focus on Haiti diminished little by little each day there after. Obviously, we live in the United States, so the vast majority of information we get about what’s going on in the world around us comes directly from the mass media.
That being said, I think the part of the problem with this whole issue with regards to the public’s responsibility to Haiti, lies within the media and whether or not they are genuinely doing their job of informing and educating us on ALL of the important things going on in the world. I’m not saying that the media should take all the accountability in the situation, because I do think that society needs to take matters into their own hands and put forth additional effort. However, I can’t help but wonder where our priorities lie when the top headlines are Larry King’s divorce, Tiger Woods’ affairs, which celebrities broke up, etc. When the media stops covering these stories we seem to forget about their existence. We forget that even though the papers/news stops covering it, the situation still exists and people are still struggling.
I feel guilty admitting it, but previous to Tuesday’s class, I hadn’t thought about the earthquake in Haiti for a while. I’m not trying to make excuses for myself, but I have a busy schedule and have barely had time for myself this past semester. In addition to preparing for graduation in May and figuring out what I’m going to do come a month or so, I have a full class schedule, job applications/interviews, a part-time job, homework, studying, clubs, etc. to worry about. It’s not that I don’t care about Haiti, because I do. I get emotional even thinking about what these people are going through. I’m from Long Island and when 9/11 happened I knew many people that lost their lives. The experience was life changing and I struggled with the aftermath for a long time afterwards. Considering MANY more people died in Haiti, I can only imagine what life is like there right now. We all lead very different lives filled with very different responsibilities, and unfortunately, unless things directly affect us personally we tend to push them aside and treat them as less of a priority.
In this world people do not know what they have until they lose it. People cannot care about others if those ‘others’ are not directly in their lives we can sympathize but that’s pretty much it. Unfortunately that is how some people work in this world. Maybe those have lost loved ones in 9/11 or in some other accident know and understand those pains. Maybe those who have worried about having enough food on the table, could understand their pain.But if people put themselves in the shoes of those Haitians who have lost loved ones and have no money to feed their children or themselves, they would not continue eating their dinners after hearing about this tragedy they would probably try looking for the next flight to Haiti.
However not everyone in the world is like this, for example I would love to go down to Haiti and lend a helping hand however helping costs money and I do not have the money to buy a ticket to Haiti and have enough money to maintain myself for however long I would like to stay. In Tuesday’s lecture we were asked that if we wanted to help, we could put our name and email address down for more information. So I guess I just have to wait and see what they tell me. Until then I just hear about all the stuff that is going on down there, feel compassion and then go about my daily life.
This is an interesting idea. I had never really thought about it before, and while yes hearing that 300,000 people died does affect me and I am sad and left feeling helpless, it does not affect me in the same way as the death of someone in my family, or someone I knew well would. I am able to push it out of my mind and focus on other things for hours on end, but would be completely unable to do so had someone I knew died. But how can we feel that connected to something that we are so unfamiliar with? Familiarizing ourselves with it after helps to some degree, but I feel like it's impossible to feel the same emotions towards people you never knew compared with people you know well and love. You can help those people out, and you should most definitely want to and follow through with it, but you don't have the same connection. Is there a way to acquire this? I don't know, I don't really think there is.
I totally agree with the person that made the question. We should help, not only because it is "one world", but also because it happened 1 hour away from Miami. For those of you who do not know where Haiti is… is not too far away from the borders of the US. As part of a big country and the largest economy in the world, people should feel responsible for the people in need. If we have the ability, we have the responsibility. There are many ways in which people could help in Haiti, there are no excuses and it will makes us happy. Does everyone agree with me? Who thinks that we do not need to help poor countries like Haiti? and Why?
I took a class about environmental tourism and global citizenship. I feel this issue has a lot to do with being a global citizen. I think many people have the opinion that when tragedy strikes another country, it is their problem and not ours. But we have to realize we are all connected. We are all humans. And yes we have our country, and yes we can take pride in our country and our people, but we a cannot forget and turn our heads to others who need help (especially when we are in the position/have the ability to help). A lot of people in this world don’t see it that way, and it is unfortunate.
Sometimes I feel that a number, especially, a big number like 300,000 does not do justice to the actual human loss. Each person was an individual. Each person was a mother, father, sister, brother, etc. I think that this point is overlooked sometimes during these massive tragedies. The tsunami was another example of this. We are farther removed from these tragedies because they are not happening here in America. I understand this, but I think that we should at least stop and think about the actual human loss from time to time. It is easy to donate ten dollars, and it’s a good thing. I just think we have to make ourselves realize what actually happened down there.
I think people feel like this because simply they are not close to it. They do not have any family members there and they may think it’s sad and take a little time to mourn, but like this girl in the video said it does not directly affect them, therefore, they do not care. If you think about it though what can someone like me (a college student) do to help besides donating money. Then even though you have donated money that is still not enough it seems like for a lot of people. I am sorry if this girl or whomever finds my post offensive, but I am at least taking a small step into helping I do not feel that I have to stop my life and go to some place like Haiti in order for others to think I am actually doing something for them.
That is a good question but I feel like there is a simple answer to it. You said that when a family member passes away it affects us directly, but when three hundred thousand Haitians die it is on the news for a week and we think about it for a little bit but it does not affect us as much. If one of my family members were to pass away I would take time off because it is going to affect my mindset for a while. I will not be able to think straight. My family will come together and bring each other comfort and in time we will get through our times of sorrow together. As for the matter of three-hundred thousand Haitians dying in a tragic earthquake it is not going to affect me as much because I do not know any of them. It is hard to mourn the loss of three-hundred thousand people that you do not know. If it was maybe one person, somebody beloved by all, it would probably hit harder on me, but still not as much as a family member. For example, when Wellington Mara, the New York Giants General Manager and team owner, died it kind of hit me a little bit because I am I die-heart Giants fan, but I still did not think about it for weeks. If you want to help a whole nation like Haiti, I feel like it is up for the U.S. government to take the initiative and help out the country. If that means raising the taxes, then we should raise taxes. The government is the one corporation that has the power to make everyone help in a crisis situation. The problem is, if the government does get involved and raise taxes they are going to make many Americans mad, but why do Americans always ask why can’t we help Haiti? Well if we do then the government is going to make up really upset because they are taking your “hard-work” tax dollars. Like Sam said in class, America is very stingy with their money, and I really do not like that about America. I do not like politics, I do not like people who have the power to do something and sit and do nothing (I don’t know if I have the capability, but I’m probably being a hypocrite because I probably do), I do not like a lot of things about America. Haiti’s situation is very unfortunate and I really hope their country will soon recover from their tragedy and hopefully soon. Therefore, in the end it is hard to mourn the loss of a whole nation and it is even harder trying to figure out how to help a whole nation. I’m not the kind of person who will take the initiative to help a whole nation. I feel that I don’t have the power. Does this make me, does it make us bad people if we don’t help, or don’t know how to help?
Although 300,000 people dying in Haiti is a horrible tragedy, we cannot, as Americans, let that take over our lives. Of course we should feel some way about that, donate money to help, and keep the thoughts about what happened in out minds. But we have to move on, and get on with our lives. That is the case even when a family member dies. You never forget about their passing, you never stop feeling the pain of their passing, but you have to move on. When it is a family member of course it is going to hit you harder and you may take some time off to gather yourself, but in the end you get back to your life. When the tragedy is all the way in another country, you are going to be able to move on even quicker.
Okay this is the situation. This is an obvious observation in this situation. On September 11, 2001, 3,000 plus honest Americans were killed in the tragic crash of the twin towers. The majority of the people working in these building were white Americans or middle to high –class minority people. But when something 10time more disastrous happens like Katrina where the majority where African American people; people just don’t give two shits about it. Really? It’s not like people died instantly and there was nothing anyone can do; people sat there for weeks and suffered with no food, water, or support from our groups. The Haiti earthquake is just another example of black people that people do not care about. I bet if this earthquake resulted in 300,000 Jewish people; everyone would so drastically depressed about and there would be so much more support than there is now. But since 300,000 pure charcoal –skinned black people died people say “Oh wow, that’s sad. Not my life” and keeping moving on without it being a thought. So No it does not make you a bad person that u mourn or feel worse that 1 person you personally know somebody close to. Haiti did not impact us in that sort of way, as losing a family member or friend so it is easy to almost forget about it or not think about how awful is still really is. Things stop in countries it’s directed at so it makes everyone else pay attention and help out, but the world didn't stop when that happened, US business did not close like many did on September 11. Even though many people want to help, there are just no way can we. If you were a concerned citizen and you went to your boss and said I need time off to go help Haiti I guarantee you would be fired. So, since that cannot happen, many people have no other alternative so they just act like they forget about it and people get upset that no one wants to help when that is not really the case. , so it is easy to not keep it at the forefront of our minds all the time. For people who have been to Haiti after the earthquake, it is a life changing experience and they are willing to do whatever they can to help. For the majority of people though, it is a tragic thing that happened… and then we move on and go about our day. Just like in New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina was a terrible natural disaster, Rarely if ever, they say, has a natural disaster so ravaged the crowded capital of an already poor country, devastating both the government and the international agencies that usually step in. For weeks, relief came in the form of food giveaways that resembled a Darwinian sport with biscuits and bottles of canola oil or biscuits thrown like footballs from the backs of trucks to masses of men jockeying for position.
Unfortunately the way human nature often works is that the only thing that matters to us in the end is self preservation and I think that is what this student is getting at. No matter how many people die in a terrorist attack or natural disaster domestic or abroad I think it’s a common psychological response for people to go on with their daily lives if it hasn’t affected them directly. If a family member dies that affects the individual directly because they won’t be able to have that loving relationship with them anymore. That relationship with that person has diminished which in turn means a part of that person has diminished as well. True empathy is really what this class is trying to get at in my opinion. To get someone to care about the life of another of whom which they have no relationship with whatsoever but have the common connection of just being another human being. I think that is when true empathy is achieved.
I've never really thought about it in the comparison to the horrific event of the world trade centers. When the guest speaker told us that 3,000 had died in 9/11 and 300,000 had died in the earthquake of haiti it blew my mind. I never compared the two i just thought as both of them being two of the most horrific tragedies ever. Why didn't our nation mourn like they did when they did for 9/11, we just did what we did to help and kept living our lives. In my mind thats just insane. Not only were 300,000 people killed but close to 3 million were affected and yet they ones who did survive have nothing left, no where to go, nothing to eat, family members are gone and they are just suppose to keep living each day one by one. Even though many countries responded to appeals for humanitarian aid, pledging funds and dispatching rescue and medical teams, engineers and support personnel, do we still expect them to just keep living their lives after all theyve been through? I mean would you? we lose one person in our family in thats a huge deal to us, can you imagine losing your whole family and just expect to live your life with what you have now even though youve just lost everyone in your family? To think that someone you loved so much is gone because of an earthquake that took 30 seconds and yes people are helping and trying to do what they can but that only fixes your physical needs not with how you feel emotionally. Iv personally lost my grandparents and that to me was the end of the world after taking the right time and being with my family thats what heals you, but to lose several of your family members and not be able to have that mourning process with the rest of your family and have that time to yourself because the rest of haiti is going through it, all you have is strangers to release the emotions that you feel. Some people feel that they didnt mourn after knowing what happened because we could not do anything about it. we couldnt change what happened so people will just do what they can to help and move on. I personally took 9/11 to hearth and felt for those people for months and months but i feel much more ashamed now that i know how many people really died in haiti and everything that they went through and my emotions wernt the same between the two horrible tragedies. I feel people are just being ignorant too because just because haiti did not happen in the United States that doesnt mean that they shouldnt care so thats something to think about.
I think that we can be very selfish in world affairs at times because they do not directly affect us, and I do not think that this is wrong or right. We might not really pay attention to it because we might not care or we just do not want to get emotionally attached to anything. Now if a family member or a friend were to be involved in a terrorist attack or major natural disaster, then we would get involved. We just have to keep living, point blank period. If a family member died, you mourn for a a couple weeks, but then you have to move on because if we all acted as if the world were over every time somebody passed away, a lot of things would not get done. All we can do as Americans is be supportive of those who it is directly affecting and send money.
Exactly. No one really wants to dish out all their sad emotions on everything in the world that happens and is sad and tragic. We all save it for the moments when we lose someone truly close to us. I feel like everyone has basically said the same thing. People aren’t bad because they feel that way, we just try and not have everything affect us, because it would drive us crazy in the long run. The people that say I’m wrong I feel are just saying it so they don’t come off as a bad person, and they are NOT! We care more about anything about our loved ones, and that’s the way it should be.
I agree with this student's posting, and I think its really important to put some of these natural disasters and nation wide devastation in context. 300,000 people is a huge number, yet, I don't think too many people know that that many people died in Haiti. I sure didn't, before our guest speaker told us in class on Tuesday. I don't think that people are ignorant to this fact because they don't care, rather I think it can be attributed to the fact that because we don't see it and Haiti is not being pushed in our faces everyday, we don't react as fast. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil; it's practically the same context. The media coverage of Haiti has slowed down recently and as a result, it seems like things are being handled well and Haiti is regaining stability. Unfortunately, from what we learned on Tuesday, this is not the case, although hopes for the nation seem high. We have seen this happen in America with Hurricane Katrina too. It's a hard concept to bring back home, but it helps to hear personal stories about the real situation, accompanied by the statistics, to put everything in perspective again and try to make a difference in any way we can.
I am very glad that Ian came in and spoke to our class about Haiti and his experiences there. While we see coverage of the horrible earthquake and its aftermath on TV and online, it is always more riveting to hear the experience live from someone who was there and saw it with their own eyes. 300,000 people are an excruciating amount of people to die from one single event, and it is still very hard to comprehend that. It is not only 300,000 people that are dead; it’s all of their friends and family that are extremely devastated. The mass graves say it all and are so hard to comprehend.
I definitely don't think people are saying "Oh, 300,000 people are dead. Oh no. How sad. OK, now where was I?" There is definite sadness out there in the world for people who are affected by tragic events such as Haiti, Hurricane Katrina, the plane crash in Poland, and 9/11. My belief is if you don't feel some kind of sadness or other strong emotion, perhaps like anger at the world for causing disasters like this, then you are not truly human. Sam made a similar statement in class the other day, and it definitely resonated with me. So I htink that there is definitely sadness initially. This woman is correct however, that while initially we are sad and eager to donate money and time to help, gradually over time our amount of caring starts to wane and soon, as Sam talked about with the non-profit groups that just bring items rather than secure jobs for the Haitians, the people affected by the disaster may be worse off than before. This could definitely be true with Haiti, however it seems as though the relief efforts are still going strong, which is a welcome sight to see.
I can see the above poster's point that the proximity of the event to you, both geographically and in terms of friends or family involved, is an indication about how much you might continue to care about the effects of the disaster. With 9/11, the events sparked a war that is still going on today. Also, the kind of event it is also can impact the reaction of people. With 9/11, it was a man-made disaster, while with Hurricane Katrina, it was an earthly event. In that sense, people might have "done their part" for a while, but since they weren't as fired up emotionally about the initial damage or the aftermath, the concern began to dissipate. Events like 9/11 that are caused by our fellow humans tend to stir up more potent emotions for us, such as anger for the offenders, and of course, sadness and pity for those affected. This leads to more people willing to help with recovery efforts.
Also, I may pose a thought that it is possible that many people just gave money or offered to help with Haiti simply because it was the "trendy thing to do." I know that sounds rather cynical, but I feel as though that would cover the motivations of a few people. My hope is that it only covers a few people, and that most people, like myself, are motivated to help because they want to help their fellow man, and, as Sam mentioned in class, follow the Golden Rule of doing unto others as you would want others to do to you.
She’s absolutely right. What happened in Haiti is a horrible disaster but I believe some people do care more about tragedy when it affects us directly. As people in society most of us are more caring about ourselves before others and what we have going on in our lives and how we are going to become successful. I’m not bashing this concept I just believe that “most” people in the United States have a me first approach on life. I’m not going to sit here and say I have always thought about others before myself, I would be lying. I don’t know why but sometimes I think about myself as if I was the only person in the world. I forget what I have learned by going to church and how to live through others. God has a golden rule “Do unto others as you would want done to you”. It is such a simple rule but yet very hard for us to live up too. As people, we need to self examine ourselves and ask if what we’re doing is going to help not just ourselves but others as well. Also I don’t want to get to religious but some of us believe that what we do in this life greatly affect where we are in the afterlife. So for people who believe this why aren’t we devoting our lives to helping others? I guess because we feel the need to have better things like TV’s, iPod’s, computers things that shouldn’t be the priority in our lives. So in order to get these things we have to work more and it takes more of a priority than more important things. Its one thing to work to support your family but it’s another to work to get the new iPod touch. As people we need to enjoy the life we have and the people in it before it is too late. Think about what you as a person is going to leave behind you and what you have left the world with after you pass. I have just thought about this myself and I know it’s a lot to digest at once, but I guess this is me brain dumping my feelings after hearing last lecture. The lecture really made me think about my own life and right now I feel I feel I could do better. Not just in school but in the community, with my friends my family, everything. I think appreciation and thankfulness goes a long way and after hearing that lecture on Tuesday I am truly thankful for my family and the people in my life. While also living through others and helping others can make us all better people and help society progress.
I thought that the girl in the video made a very interesting point. I feel like when something big happens like 300,000 people die I would not have the same reaction is if someone in my family or entire family died. I think that if my family members were included in those 300,000 people then it would impact me but it definitely wouldn’t as much if they were not a part of the group of 300,000. When 9/11 happened and all of those innocent citizens died I was shocked, sad, angry, etc. I did not understand how something like this could happen. However, when all of those people died I did not know one person in all of those people. What I’m saying is, yes the tragic event made me think and feel depressed it did NOT impact me in a way that it impacted others. Now if one of my family members died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks it would have been a whole other story. I would have mourned for a really long time and would have been involved with the whole situation a lot more.
This situation has made me think a lot about the way I am. The way I am selfish and only think about myself and my close ones when it comes to something like 300,000 people dying. I am not saying that when 300,000 people die that I do not try to help them out or mourn over it but it is not the same when it is directly affecting me.
I also think that when people hear of a big tragic event that effects many of people and tons of people die that at first they help with the situation but then after they feel as if they have done their duty and just go on with their lives. Take Haiti for example, after the earthquake struck many of people donated money, helped with food, and helped with building new houses. Yet, after they gave their part then they just stopped and feel like they do not have to help out anymore. The people in Haiti are still in need. I think that for us this is kind of selfish. We help out because yes we feel bad but also to make ourselves feel more worthy and feel better about ourselves.
I do not think that when 300,000 people die its not that we "don’t" care. It is a situation that is too big for us and we feel that we cannot do anything about it. When a close family member does you go into a different mindset. If a person died that I didn’t know in that 300,000 group of people or if my mom died this weekend, of course I would be affected more if my mom died. I think it is just in our human nature to feel and care more to those who are closer to us.
I remember the class on the Thursday after the earthquake in Haiti when Sam asked us to all donate some money if we wanted to or if we could. I looked at my friend next to me and I know this sounds so horrible and naïve, but I asked her what it was for. She looked at me with such disbelief that I had no idea about what happened in Haiti. I do not read or watch the news nearly enough so I thought to myself, how would I know? But I realized that I need to start looking into world issues more often.
I feel that many people do what they can to help in situations like Haiti, but how can a person stop living their life because of it? I did donate money to foundations to help Haiti but I did not stop living my life because something bad happened somewhere else in the world. My intentions are not to ignore it and not disregard it, but I am, as most other Americans are, consumed in their lives and do not have enough time to recognize the severity of these issues.
I think the most blatant difference for example between Sam and I would be that he knew people in Haiti so it hit him harder than it hit me. I thought it was tragic and was very sad for all the people’s losses, but I did not have any personal relations or ties with anyone there.
The telethons and the fundraisers are all amazing ways to help Haiti begin to recover and to release awareness but these things will never fully fix all the damage that was done. Even though the earthquake happened months ago, I still think people recognize it and care about it and are willing to continue to help.
In my opinion, if the tragedy hit closer to home, I would be more inclined to think about it and help out with it every day. I know that all disasters are sad and unfortunate, but when it comes to one that I can’t personally help or feel, my mind wanders away from it more often than not.
As for the hurricane in New Orleans, I was able to understand that more than Haiti because it was closer to home and I knew people in that location at that very unfortunate time. People that lost loved ones in the hurricane and in the earthquake will forever be marked by those terrible times. I do not think that each of those two places will ever be able to be like what they used to be, as sad as that is to say. No matter the number of people that died, whether it was 10 or 300,000, I still feel the sadness that came along with the tragedy.
I completely agree with everything that you said. People only care about things generally if it directly affects him or her. Its not just selfish people, it is pretty much everybody. People do care obviously its just not on the same level as they would for something else. Money being raised for Haiti is a perfect example. We all as a class donated money and I am sure other people did additional things individually, but none of us completely stopped our lives to grieve or stopped going to class or stopped going to work. We just keep moving on with our lives and though the people are in our thoughts and prayers we aren't going to stop what were doing. As long as the world is still turning people aren't going to stop their lives unless it directly effects them.
I think that something like this is completely horrible and devastating-but that you are right, people seem to move on. This has something to do with the “us and them” phenomenon that has happened between countries. We are not all humans- not simply people. But we are people with an identity that seems to root in where we are from. And when something happens to them-we feel badly because we know those were humans, but people seem to also think: that god it wasn’t us. This is terrible and one of the many points that I wish people could understand. We are not US and THEM, those lines are invisible-we are all humanity and you are right, we should all be effected by anything that happens.
Joseph Stalin put it in very realistic way, saying that "One death is a tragedy, one million is a statistic". I understand this quote is devoid of most human emotion and morals, but it has some merit. When one person, be it a friend, a family member, or even a public figure or famous person dies, its usually a large emotional deal for the immediate family of those involved and, in the famous person example, the media goes into a frenzy and talks about that person all the time. However, when a global catastrophe occurs, and hundreds of thousands if not millions of people are effected, the news media doesn't ever put names to faces. Instead, they go by the numbers and say how horrible it is. Sure the family of the people who died are going to be upset, but to the world around them who didn't know the names of each individual that died is only going to be concerned with the numbers. How many people died? How many people are wounded? How much money do we need to lend our support? How many troops must we send over to help? We use the statistical data to kind of desensitize ourselves to how grand the issue truly is, and therefore we are better able to cope with it, and handle the situation accordingly. That isn't to say that everyone who dies doesn't deserve the same mourning and emotional response, but the reason we can continue to go on with our lives after a massive wave of death is because we're used to it. Massive global catastrophes have been going on for centuries, and as people, we've become desensitized to large scale tragedy. The only people who can truly say how horrible these events are, are those who have had family or close friends directly involved. Those are the people who's lives will change after a major event. Those are the people who will mourn and have to take time off from their lives to figure out what is going on. Not that its an excuse, but when people die on a massive scale, I'll send money or food to help out those in need, but for me to halt my life when it has not been directly affected, is too much to ask. If everyone in the world were to take every single tragedy to heart and mourn for days or weeks or months, the world would never be able to function properly in the way that we are used to having it function. We need the people who can look past the devastation, look past the horrible calamity, look past the emotion that they are "supposed to be feeling" and actually lend a hand to those in need. If everyone just stopped what they were doing to really appreciate the sacrifice of the people in these tragedies, then the world we know would halt and more problems than anyone could have imagined would arise.
I definitely liked Tuesday’s class because even though we all know what happened in Haiti, it is always good to see a different point of view about the situation like Ian did. He allowed me to look at the situation in a different way than I was doing before. It was really eye-opening to see all of the photos and to see how terrible the situation really is down there. I also agree that the best way to help with the situation is to physically send people down to Haiti to help out. Yes, sending money is always going to help the cause, but I feel like if we physically help, hands-on, then the relief would get there quicker than just sending money.
I think your question is stupid. It’s generally human nature to have the mindset of “out of site, out of mind”. And to say not much help has been given is crazy. Haitians received over one billion dollars in aid. How about all the food Haitians receive. The UN provided 2 million meals on a particular day after the earthquake. As we learned in lecture on Tuesday, this money is only making a worse economic situation for them. I feel like more people would try to help if they were right there and could help with physical labor, but we’re not.
I don’t think she was asking why we aren’t helping more. I think she was asking why we don’t seem to care about 300,000 people dying. I agree with you that out of sight out of mind comes into play here. I mean with September 11th it was right in our nation. We knew people affected by it. I also see where you are coming from saying we sent a lot of help, but I just think she was asking why its only been 3 months and we have already stopped talking about it in the news and act like everything is now fine.
I think you've raised some great questions here. Questions that made me think for awhile about the disaster in Haiti and what we heard in class on Tuesday. Do we have a responsibility to help? I think we do. It's easy to sit here and do nothing though and continue going on with our lives. But it's not difficult to do something that makes a difference. Like Ian said, it's easier to make a bigger difference in a country that so desperately needs help and aid. At the very least, Haiti's unfortunate and dire situation should remind us to be thankful for what we have, for the luxuries in our life (like running water, grocery stores around the corner, and a place to sleep at night) and maybe to share some of our relative wealth. I think part of the reason why people read about these catastrophic events in the news or online and say, "oh my god, that's horrible," but then continue on with their lives is because they've never known or seen such a disaster or have seen how it directly affects them. It can be hard sometimes to see a direct relation as to how something like this affects us. But I think Tuesdays class helped put it into perspective for me, at least. When I found out that the aid money that the U.S. is sending is really just benefiting our own economy I was a little shocked. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, and the U.S. one of the wealthiest, if not the most wealthy. And like Sam said, the people in the lowest 10% of socioeconomic status here in the U.S. are still better off than the people in Haiti.
I think one of the problems is that so many Americans have the view from their microcosm and can only think about what is happening in the present day. I think people also have trouble putting themselves in another person's shoes. Yes, it can be hard to think about what it would be like if suddenly 300,000 Americans were killed here in the U.S. because of an Earthquake and that we didn't have any food or fresh water to drink. But think about how we felt on 9/11 or after Hurricane Katrina. Do you think people felt more empathy for those injured and killed in the attacks and the natural disaster here than they do for the victims in Haiti? I think that people become desensitized to "giving" towards a problem that probably will take decades to solve, ie. hunger in Africa or rebuilding Haiti. People are much more willing write a check now and say, "Ok, this solves an imminent problem and I did my part." The only people who can truly say how horrible these events are, are those who have had family or close friends directly involved. But in any event, we should all try our best to imagine ourselves in that situation and think about the Golden Rule that Same talked about. How would we want others to react if this happened to the U.S. and directly affected us
Although I do agree that it is a really shocking thing to know that 300,000 people died and we act as though it was 3 people, I do not think it is anything like September 11th. The only reason I say that is because America was attacked by terrorists on 9/11. People died because of other people not because of a natural phenomenon. I do agree it’s horrible that we don’t think about this more because 300,000 people is a lot. If it was my family of course I would care more. The more I think of it the worse I feel because everyone should care more and I don’t now why we don’t.
I understand how easy it is for people to say what do I have to worry about other people, when they are going through struggles about the university sending you notices about paying your tuition; however, I can also understand how insensitive that may be. We all fall victim of it, myself included. Since we are in such a fast pace world it is hard not to fall victim to it. We all just need to take time to acknowledge others around the world and step outside of our big box. I remember talking about this “why should we care” subject earlier in the semester with Native Americans. Except this event was an unfortunate event that happened in Haiti. I know I have an answer that is right to me but may not be to everyone, which is to help in any way that is convenient to you. Because what people do not realize is every little bit helps, and if everyone helps in small parts there will be a big outcome. I would love to go to Haiti and help them rebuild their economic economy as well as their neighborhoods. Also 300,000 people is a lot, I mean Hurricane Katrina displaced tens of thousands of people too, and to this day people still have not bounced back. I feel we have a need to acknowledge these people and help them in ways that will not only help them but help rebuild their communities. I never thought that we were crippling them. I know the old saying give a man fish he will eat 1 day, teach man to fish he will eat forever, and that is what our guest was speaking about on Tuesday, which makes a whole lot of sense than giving them everything. In addition, to recognizing we need to not be so quickly to forget about them. As references were made to September 11th terrorist attacks, 100 more times people died and 2.5million of the people were displaced in the earth quake in Haiti, and yet because September was an American tragedy we will always remember, not to say that is any more or less important. Just asking the question why is the reason we remember things that happen close to home or sole to American and not others. I also have a theory which may not be true or it may be, anyways my theory is that if you build someone else up it you are intentionally build yourself up too, and the end result will be that you will do better as well the other party. After Haiti took over their colony back if the United States was to recognize them as they should have Haiti would be thriving thus saving us money and everyone would be better or off. I don’t know I just feel like everything that America is so corrupt and everything is based around lies or not whole stories, and that everyone is out for their own benefit. As an ending point Sam said his point is not to make us feel guilty about being Americans or hating out country or its leaders but to get a different aspect, but I can’t help myself from feeling that way.
I think that there is a big difference between not taking the time to help after a tragedy has occurred and believing that you should not have to. I think that it is important to make a distinction because I know many many people (my self often included) who may want to help and make a difference after something terrible has occurred but for whatever the reason may be, don't. And furthermore just because you do not do anything during a time of need somewhere in the world, whether it be in our own country, in Haiti, or anywhere else, it does not mean that you believe we should all just move on. Unfortunately not all of us have the time, money, and other resources to help when help is needed. Especially as college students, sometimes even ten dollars can be a lot to ask for. While I think that it is unfortunate that we cannot always help when we want to, I do not think that means that people who do not help, do not care, and think we should just get on with our lives. For example my roommate has a strong passion for giving back to the world. She wants to spend her life working for non-profit organizations and volunteering to help make a difference in the lives of people everywhere. Since we are graduating soon she has been looking into ways to do what she has decided she is meant to do, and has found it very difficult. Many organization require you to pay thousands of dollars before you can go and volunteer. Or they require you to be skilled in ways that a normal civilian may not be skilled. As a student about to graduate from college, my roommate does not have the funds to pay three thousand dollars and then be able to help children in Africa. This is why she was so excited during the last lecture when the speaker told her all she has to do is buy a plane ticket and get vaccinated and that she can come help out in Haiti. It's that simple. But more often than not, this is not the case. Because its not like you can just hop a flight to Haiti and try to help out. It doesn't work that way. And even when you are presented with the opportunity to help others in need, it does not make you a bad person if you choose to instead take a test for a class. Being a college graduate is something that is important as well and I do not think its even fair to try to compare helping people and gaining an education or working hard at your job. If you can do both then thats great. But if you can't just drop everything and forget about all of your classes, but you still care about the 300,000 people in Haiti who have died and you still care about helping them, then hopefully one day you will, and even if you don't, that doesn't make you a bad person.
I think it becomes very easy for us to forget what happened such a short time ago if it does not directly affect us, as my classmate stated and was demonstrated when so few people in class on Tuesday remembered the day the earthquake hit. I think that most definitely the people affected by the horrendous disaster that happened in January are still reeling from the effects, and that included people in the U.S. and all around the world with ties in Haiti. I hope that people have not moved on, although it appears as some have, from one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent history and I hope people are still motivated to help in positive ways.
300,000 people is not something just to overlook but she said it herself, people don’t think it directly affects us. When something happens that doesn’t affect us, what are we supposed to do? We have been doing everything to help like donating money. Personally I cannot travel to the disaster site because of school and other commitments unless I took off and went to help. If she is saying we should be doing that then I might have to agree but I feel like I cannot do anything that I haven’t already done to help. There is only so much someone can do.
I have to disagree and say that I do not think the majority of people are not helping because they do not want to. I think a lot of people, if they could help, would want to. The thing is, life does not stop, even if we want it to. We take moments of silence to mourn the loss, but we still have to go on with our daily life. Not everyone has the luxury or the ability to help out as much as they want to or feel that they should.
For me, I feel conflicted in a lot of ways. There is only so much I can do, and only so much I can give. I donate as much money as I can, but are a couple of dollars really enough to make a difference in these people’s lives after being confronted with utter devastation? I feel that it probably does not make that big of a difference, but I hope, and I think that it probably makes a small difference.
If I could spend a month in Haiti helping out, and everything else could be put on hold, I would probably do so as well, and I think a lot of people feel the same way. I would love to go down there and offer my assistance, and view the issues first hand. I would love to talk to people, and try to understand their situation, and volunteer my time. The issue is, we cannot put our lives on hold, and Penn State is not going to allow us to pause our education. So we have to move on. Not because we choose too, because we really do not have a choice.
I think moving on, and making myself a better person, is in fact helping others out in the long run. If I get a good education, graduate, and get a good job, then there may be a time in my life where I will be in a situation where I can donate an amount of money that really makes a difference. If I do everything I need to do now, hopefully one day I will be able to take some time out and help out in a way that is actually beneficial.
I think for now as long as we are sympathetic to the situation and do as much as we can, we are doing the right thing. The right thing could even be talking about it to your friends and family. The right thing could be simply trying to understand, and being sympathetic and understanding in as many ways as possible. Some times this kind of support is just as important as any other kind.
In this world people do not know what they have until they lose it. People cannot care about others if those 'others' are not directly in their lives we can sympathize but that's pretty much it. Unfortunately that is how some people work in this world. Maybe those have lost loved ones in 9/11 or in some other accident know and understand those pains. Maybe those who have worried about having enough food on the table, could understand their pain.But if people put themselves in the shoes of those Haitians who have lost loved ones and have no money to feed their children or themselves, they would not continue eating their dinners after hearing about this tragedy they would probably try looking for the next flight to Haiti.
However not everyone in the world is like this, for example I would love to go down to Haiti and lend a helping hand however helping costs money and I do not have the money to buy a ticket to Haiti and have enough money to maintain myself for however long I would like to stay. In Tuesday's lecture we were asked that if we wanted to help, we could put our name and email address down for more information. So I guess I just have to wait and see what they tell me. Until then I just hear about all the stuff that is going on down there, feel compassion and then go about my daily life.
There is a simple answer to that question…because it does not effect you or anyone who doesn't know a Haitian, personally. If it were OUR family member, friend, significant other, it would be the end of the world for US. As a human race, we are naturally selfish, and the less something effects us, the less obligations we feel we have to react. It is the honest truth but it is reality.
I think you've raised some great questions here. Questions that made me think for awhile about the disaster in Haiti and what we heard in class on Tuesday. Do we have a responsibility to help? I think we do. It's easy to sit here and do nothing though and continue going on with our lives. But it's not difficult to do something that makes a difference. Like Ian said, it's easier to make a bigger difference in a country that so desperately needs help and aid. At the very least, Haiti's unfortunate and dire situation should remind us to be thankful for what we have, for the luxuries in our life (like running water, grocery stores around the corner, and a place to sleep at night) and maybe to share some of our relative wealth. I think part of the reason why people read about these catastrophic events in the news or online and say, "oh my god, that's horrible," but then continue on with their lives is because they've never known or seen such a disaster or have seen how it directly affects them. It can be hard sometimes to see a direct relation as to how something like this affects us. But I think Tuesdays class helped put it into perspective for me, at least. When I found out that the aid money that the U.S. is sending is really just benefiting our own economy I was a little shocked. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, and the U.S. one of the wealthiest, if not the most wealthy. And like Sam said, the people in the lowest 10% of socioeconomic status here in the U.S. are still better off than the people in Haiti.
I think one of the problems is that so many Americans have the view from their microcosm and can only think about what is happening in the present day. I think people also have trouble putting themselves in another person's shoes. Yes, it can be hard to think about what it would be like if suddenly 300,000 Americans were killed here in the U.S. because of an Earthquake and that we didn't have any food or fresh water to drink. But think about how we felt on 9/11 or after Hurricane Katrina. Do you think people felt more empathy for those injured and killed in the attacks and the natural disaster here than they do for the victims in Haiti? I think that people become desensitized to "giving" towards a problem that probably will take decades to solve, ie. hunger in Africa or rebuilding Haiti. People are much more willing write a check now and say, "Ok, this solves an imminent problem and I did my part." The only people who can truly say how horrible these events are, are those who have had family or close friends directly involved. But in any event, we should all try our best to imagine ourselves in that situation and think about the Golden Rule that Same talked about.
It really is crazy to see this tremendous devastation occur and most Americans not doing anything to help and even more moving on with their lives as if nothing has happened. Especially when they stated in the video that Sam posted about how these Haitian people will be living in these tent villages for years to come. The reality is that like someone stated in class, only doctors and non-profit organizations were going down these soon after the tragedy occurred. Today, it still is kind of hard to go down there and help out without being involved with an organization and finding a way to really change the terrible economy that Haitian are having to deal with right now. Maybe all most people know to do right now is give any extra money they can to the people of Haiti and encourage those people who can really make a change to down these to do so.
Of course people want to help, what sensible person wouldn't? it's just not that simple. If people could stop world hunger and poverty, they would. But you have to realize that it is much more complicated than that. You can donate money, which is good, but it won't make much of a difference. Actually it hurt them when we donated money. The money was spent to buy food that was given to the Haitians for free, so nobody could sell food anymore. This hurt the already devastated economy, and was hurting Haiti's chances of recovering. So if donating money isn't an option, what else can we do? Really nothing, only the government has the power to make a difference. It also isn't our responsibilty to care of the entire world. Another earthquake hit Chile and that was also another massive disaster. Should America take care of that problem as well? It would cost billions of dollars to help Haiti, and it is a long process. Chile is another situation that would cost us billions and billions, if not trillions of dollars to help with.
America may be the most powerful country in the world, but it isn't invincible. We have to worry about our country as well, even though that sounds cruel. We are in an economic crisis, and our President just signed a health care bill giving free health care to everyone. On top of that illegal immigration is costing us a lot of money, along with the unnecessary war on Iraq. Although these all seem like excuses and not reasons, they are valid. America could put a serious effort into helping Haiti, and devote billions of dollars annually for the next couple of decades to improve all those peoples lives. But at what cost? would Americans be fine with the government helping Haiti and having it's citizens become poorer and poorer.
They should be fine with that, but i imagine that most would definatley dislike that plan, because it doesn't benefit us. Thats the real problem. If something isn't effecting us, we are far more likely to not care about it as much as we should. I think that when we hear about 300,000 people dieing and compare that to the 3,000 that died on September 11, we really need to consider the extent of this crisis. If a crisis like what happened in Haiti, happened in New York City, how different would it be. The entire state, and everyone who has relatives that live in New York would be working to help, because it effects them. People from other states would help because it is fellow Americans, but not to the extent that people who are personally by the tragedy would.
Unfortunately, that’s the way we are…. As a nation, and as humans. It is human nature to try and forget the rough times (and that includes sad incidents or memories). I agree with you completely. I actually think about that a lot. I know I would absolutely be a mess if anything at all happened to my family or a friend. But somehow, when these HUGE tragedies happens in a land far, far away—it’s easier to just forget and let go. Maybe it’s because we don’t want to think about it? Or feel guilty, or feel obligated to do something. I know sometimes I feel really terrible when I start thinking about the world and the numerous horrible things going on. I feel almost trapped—like I can’t do anything. So I find it easier not to think about it as much, unfortunately. However, there’s the occasional times when something really does hit me — like the book we read about slave trade. I am absolutely REPULSED by the slave trade industry and I have really been making a truly conscious effort to watch what I buy, where I buy it etc. When I see wal-mart and K-mart and all those other little chain stores, all I can think of is the poor children’s faces, the bodies that were literally ripped apart and beaten. I feel the older we get, the more we try to forget things. We get caught up in our own life, our schoolwork, our relationships, our social life— most of us are in our own bubble. I know I am. I am happily living in this little bubble we call Penn State—where the majority of what I think about is my dwindling meal points, my lion cash, what party I’m going to this weekend, what homework I have. It is unfortunate, yes, but I do not think we can completely blame ourselves for not thinking about it. We are in such a whirlwind time of our life where everything is happening at once—whether we’re figuring out what we want to do with our lives, or simply just trying to get through the day. In high school, I was pretty aware of everything that was going on—but that’s because we were being tested on it in different ways. In some ways, I kind of hope that when I get older and get a job, I will be more aware and conscientious to all the tragedies, and do the best I can to bring help (as well as awareness). What you said is true, we are all people—and though these things happen on the other side of the world, they are real. They are real people’s lives, real people’s brothers/sisters/moms/dads/aunts/uncles/friends etc. I hope that I can find a balance between feeling terribly guilty and sad, with being aware and trying to help as much I can.
I think its really though when something like this hits such an already-poor country. Its like if conditions weren’t crappy enough now they have to deal with one of the worst natural disasters of all time that has devastated Haiti’s infrastructure, economy, and many other facets. I really enjoyed last class when Ian came in and talked about his personal experience there. The fact that stuck with me well after class was over was that the United States gives the most money but as a percentage of our GDP it is among the least amount given. Personally, I think this is really quite a travesty and another misstep on the part of the US government. And, yes, I know we’ve been going through a recession recently and God knows I’m no business or finance major, but are you telling me the United States can’t give as much of our GDP as Portugal? Really? Sure the recession sucks, but some people without jobs is a little better than people dying without shelter, food and water, and an even close to stable economy. And I don’t feel like anytime a country screws up their economy or something and they need more money we should just go in and pick them up. But Haiti was in a sense a pedestrian that got run over and now they need help with the hospital bills. Being in a country that is so plentiful we can go to the grocery store and choose from 17 different pasta sauces and 100 cereals, I really hope that our government isn’t being as cheap as they seem. I was also thinking a lot about what Sam said the other night about his philosophy that those who have more should help the people with less. I totally agree with this, and I feel my opinion wouldn’t change whether I was rich or poor. The fact of the matter is that money may not be able to buy “happiness” in the sense of making your life instantly more satisfying (when it sucked before), but it sure can do a lot for a nation full of poverty. And even at a lower level, I always feel athletes and celebrities should be giving a large portion of their salaries to charities. They are already ridiculously overpaid (Big Ben making $102 mil over 8 years=WTF), and it is part of their obligation as professionals and role models to give to charities, and I sense that overall, not that many athletes do and that is a shame. In a sense this is what Sam has been hinting at the whole year with the King of the Hill stuff. The people with the money are at the top of the hill and they make the decisions. If they want, they could give some of their enormous wealth to help some others get up the hill or they can just use it themselves to push themselves further and further up the summit….
I understand what this person is saying completely. I personally feel guilty that I am not doing more to help, and honestly, that I am not more sad. I mean obviously I am sad about what happened, but I didn’t cry. I didn’t lose sleep over it, it didn’t stop my day to day activities. I feel like a bad person because I am not more sad about it. I try. I try to understand and to imagine what those people are going through, but I can’t. I’ve looked at pictures, I’ve talked to people who have gone to Haiti, and still I just can’t put myself there and I can’t imagine it. It doesn’t affect me directly, so I can’t really empathize. I wish there was something I could do, but I just feel like there isn’t. I can’t stop going to class to go there and help, I can’t donate large amounts of money. I’m really glad that Sam collects money for Haiti because it makes me feel like I am doing something, but really, is that 10-15 dollars that I’ve donated really going to make a difference?
I think this is a really hard question to answer. When we had the attacks on the World Trade Centers on September 11th, I remember being let out of school at noon and going home. Yet we had to come back to school the next day and the teachers were not to talk to us about it, only a letter was sent home with us to our parents. That happened on our home soil to our own people, yet my school, my family’s school, my parents work, we all went on with our daily lives the next day. Obviously we watched the news and such for the weeks following to see what progressed but something happened four hours away from me and yes I feel terrible for the people whose lives were lost, but I did not do anything to even help my own country. And I am not saying I would never ever help out if something would happen again, but what can I do to help? I could volunteer my whole summer to go to Haiti but what could I honestly do to help? I am no doctor, I cannot lift heavy things, what could I possibly do to help????? I was considering for a while trying to go with some organization to help but when Ian came in to talk, I realized I would just be in the way. And not only would I be in the way, but hands down I could just not handle it. When he talked about the mass graves my heart literally skipped a beat; if I were to actually be there I would just lose it and just be a burden. Of course I want people who are qualified and such to go down to Haiti and help. Of course I want people to keep giving money to organizations who know what Haiti needs at the moment. But me? What can I do? I’m a twenty year old college student with no money. All I can really do I think is say that my parents gave a lot of money towards Haiti and that I honestly hope for the best. When you say that we are more worried about taking a test than what is happening in Haiti, that kind of rubs me the wrong way. It does because what else am I supposed to do? Worry myself to death about all of the lives lost? If I were to drop what I am doing every time something happens in the world, I would not still be in college. There is a point where if you are not directly affected by something that happened in the world, of course you can feel sorrow for what happened, but I cannot let it affect my everyday life and what I have going. It may sound selfish, but I do not know what else I could do.
Unfortunately, I think that the tragedy in Haiti is a similar situation to September 11th, Hurricane Katrina or even the tsunami a few years back in Thailand. International attention is immediately focused on the devastated area, and the whole world seems to come together to mourn. People try to see what they can send or donate to help at first, but unless they are directly affected, everyone goes back to life as normal. While I understand that the people of Haiti need the help and support of the rest of the world to get back on their feet, but I also think it’s understandable how people who are “unaffected” go on with their lives as usual shortly after a tragedy occurs.
The disheartening fact is that many people don’t give to help Haiti because they are not directly affected by the events that took place in this small, distant nation. Think about it…would many of the people in class donated any money to Haiti had Sam not said something. The sad and realistic answer is no. It’s terrible, but many people don’t care because it isn’t affecting their everyday lives. Additionally, I believe people don’t give support because they simply choose to ignore the events that took place. When you ignore things like this, the suffering and destruction become someone else’s problem. Others fall victim to the “Bystander Affect”. This term refers to the idea that people don’t help others because they think other people will step in and do the work that they could easily do themselves. It’s a plain shame!
Although we are all a part of one world, it is easy to focus on what is right in front of you and see the world in a close view. It is also easy to overlook or forget certain disasters, such as the earthquake in Haiti because the media is quick paced, constantly focusing on the next big disaster or issue. The media also prefers to package stories in a way that allows for a beginning, middle and end. The media breaks a story, assesses the situation and seems to try and end on a positive note, with success stories. The media does not want to keep coming back to Haiti if it will not pique audience interest. The bottom line is audiences prefer a happy story, rather than a seemingly hopeless one. The media is a business, and the news filtered through must be more questioned. In today’s world with 24/7 access to information, it is kind of amazing what does and does not reach an audience. If Sam did not remind us of how Haiti will never be the same, it is unlikely that I would fully understand the depth of the situation. That is not to say that I would not think back to the disaster and feel sadness, but I would not understand the ripple effect of this truly devastating occurrence. When people do not understand the depth of a problem, it is easy to look the other way and go on with life. As a culture, we are pretty desensitized to violence and death. It seems statistics have taken a hold of coverage, rather than in depth analysis of where exactly these numbers come from. I’m a communications major and became alarmingly awareness of this freshman year in a journalism class. We discussed the ethics of publishing a picture of a car accident. The picture showed a mangled car, and a figure in the front seat. The figure was a man who had died in the accident. The implications of publishing such a photo were various, but one was how the family may feel upon seeing the photo. To readers, this was just another car accident, a statistic. To the family of the man who passed away, it was their father, brother, uncle, son, photographed, lifeless. To the family, their lives would be forever changed. To the public, this was an explanation as to why there was traffic at 7 pm on an expressway. This is neither positive nor negative, as the function of the media is to be gatekeepers of information to the public. Each news story cannot delve into the implications of each incident, accident or disaster. The media by nature can only give a snapshot of reality to the public. This leaves the real investigative work up to the viewer. I say this with myself included, it is easier to move on without full understanding of a situation that it is to take time to understand the implications of an event. It is easier to know that something horrible happened and send money to aid a situation, than it is to venture to say, Haiti, and fully grasp what must be done to rectify the situation. I’ve learned from this class that we must just not stay current on current events, but stay current on past events to have a full grasp of reality.
I think that people do want to help, they just don't know what they can do. But really, what can they do? all you can do is donate money, and according the man who came and spoke to us on 4/20, that was actually hurting the Haitian economy. People feel as though one person can't make a difference, and i feel as though most people are too lazy to do anything because no matter what, their life doesn't change from the earthquake in Haiti. People still buy clothes from Nike when they know that Asian children are being worked for pennies an hour in some sweatshop, to make those clothes. I'm shocked after the presentation on the Ivory Coast and how people there pick coco, that some people still eat chocolate. Those people aren't cruel, they just feel as though nothing they do will make a difference, because "one person cant make a difference"
I think this video helps illustrate why so many people think Americans are arrogant and only think about their own country. When something happens that doesn’t directly affect us, we make it seem as though it is not our problem. However, it essentially is our problem because many of the countries who have had natural disasters or catastrophes depend on us to give them aid. If larger and wealthier countries weren’t able to help them in their time of need, they would cease to exist. I think some of the recent tragedies that have happened to the US come to such a shock to many Americans because we are simply not use to catastrophe. I almost feel as though we believe we are so superior that we are almost obsolete to tragedy. That is why many Americans panic after something truly horrific happens; they are not used to some of the tragic events that other people have to go through. I know a lot of people stepped up and helped during the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers and Hurricane Katrina, but many Americans simply didn’t do anything about it. Because many Americans weren’t directly affected, they believed that it wasn’t there issue to help resolve. If Americans can’t even help out fellow Americans, they are definitely not going to help others that don’t even belong to their country. I think Americans are more likely to help others Americans then those from other countries. I think most of this has to do with the fact that many Americans were raised on the fact that America is indeed superior. It’s as if people think another country deserves something terrible to happen to them because they aren’t as good as the United States is. I think this has something to do with why Americans are hesitant to offer aid. I also believe that Americans are used to benefiting their lives instead of others. Many Americans believe in the philosophy of “I scratch your back, you scratch mine.” However, many people aren’t going to offer aid without the opportunity to gain something in return. Not to say that there aren’t people in this world that simply help out others because they are genuinely nice people, but most people are only concerned in receiving a reward. For many people, they will only help if they are recognized, if your efforts are going to go unnoticed, you are less likely to extend some aid. The real beauty of giving back is by doing something that you will not be recognized for. No one is going to know if you donate money to a cause or not, but by doing it and not telling anybody, is the true meaning of helping others.
I'm sure that everyone has heard about the idea of going back in the past and having a butterfly land on a surface. Then suddenly our whole current world is completely different. Every little thing that happens in this world will eventually effect everything else. We aren't changing the world by doing what we do, we're making it. Think about four degrees of separation; I'm connected to every human being on this earth somehow. So although I may not know these 300,000 people who have died, they have somehow in some way, made my life the way it is now. Not changed it, made it. Where would I be had those people not died? My life could be completely different right now; but I feel no sorrow, and I feel no thanks. My life just is what it is. That's pathetic. On september 11, 2001, I cried. I barely understand what was going on, but I was terrified. I wasn't related to a single person working in the World Trade Center that day, but the attack brought so much sadness on my family and I. Within a week, we were all fine. Under the rubble, we could only go up from there. Others today are probably still grieving from the deaths that occurred that day. Although I don't know the people that died from this tragedy, or the thousands of people who die each and every day, I need to start being more aware. These people have an affect on me that I don't even realize. On all of us.
300,000 is a number I cannot wrap my mind around. It killed 300,000, wounded 300,000, and left over a million homeless. If September 11th did not put it in perspective, I read a comparison to the atomic bombing in Hiroshima recently. The death toll in Haiti was two times the number in Hiroshima. It just is impactful to say the least. I, or we, lost 300,000 of our own people. If there is little I can do or if there is nothing concrete I can get my little hands on, the least I can do is recognize and take the time to consider, understand what is going on. I lend my support and optimism for Haiti.
I mean I think we're just draw to other people in our average proximity. I don't think this makes us bad people. I don't think the means we're careless or insensitive. I feel closer to my roomates than the average person because I live with them. Because I share so many things with them. We go to the same school. We lead similar lives. And its that closeness that would distinguish them from the others random people I walk by every day. Its that same–yet obviously different– closeness I feel like when I compare Americans to those abroad. In comparison, Americans are my roomates, and the rest are just the random people I walk by down the street.
A lot of people died in Haiti and are continuing to die every day. I have never thought of Haiti, heard of Haiti, nor do I know anything about it including its location. To be honest I didn’t even hear about the disaster the day it happened, I wasn’t aware until about two days later because I decided to pick up a newspaper. I am not too sure how I feel about the whole situation; I will try to not seem too cold about it. This disaster was horrifying, tragic, and life changing for those people in Haiti. My remorse for those who died, those who suffered, and those who lost family and friends, and those who remained trapped for days is immense. People never think about things like this until after they happen. However, as a student I cannot afford to personally go there and help. We also heard that the money being donated in a way is hurting the country because it is being used in the wrong way so what are we to do. It is very true that people easily forget about things like this. How could people not? Especially something that is not in our country, something that really has little connection to our lifestyle. I don’t think that anybody needs to feel bad for continuing on with their lives. Why would people choose to sit around and mourn instead of going on with their everyday life? It is a lot easier to just forget, who wants to sit down and think about all the stuff that is going on? All the people dying, all the sadness, no one really. I feel that if you can make a difference, or have the potential to make a difference you should. However I do not feel that it is necessary to sit around and think about disasters like this all the time, things that do not directly correlate to your everyday life , instead of going out and continuing to live your life. If you can help, that’s great! Do whatever you can, in this case I am far from Haiti and have never even heard of it I do not feel I need to let it affect my life. I donated money to help and left it at that. My opinion might sounds cruel but this is just how I feel. Haiti was one of the poorest countries in the World, and from what Sam said that is the United States’ fault from a long time ago. Pumping all this money into it now when they have nothing to do with it and are using it in a way that isn’t benefiting anyone in the long run seems like a waste to me. People need to collaborate and come together, this is the only way to help. People that can help great, keep helping, others who cannot I feel should continue on with their lives and not feel guilty about it.
300,000. The number is certainly staggering, but to be frank? I hadn't even taken notice of it until Tuesday's lecture. Numbers are thrown at us constantly, and to me, they've lost their meaning. Numbers can be big or small, far or close, and I still have issues grasping onto them.
This is I don't get about pulling out a figure like 300,000: people die every single day, in countless tragic (and natural) ways. Suicides, gang warfare, natural deaths–they all occur. They're, all just as sad, just as tragic, as any other death. They're all lost life. If we mourned every single death of every single individual, then we'd literally never stop mourning. Now, I'm not saying that 300,000 deaths in one place isn't significant–a number like that completely changes the culture and the lives of the people in that area–but I don't think it's fair to throw a number at us to explain why it's significant. Yes,the deaths are sad, but it's the annihilation of a lifestyle that's tragic. Every single person in Haiti was affected by the earthquake–every single person's life was dramatically altered. I think it's the destruction of the culture that's the cause for alarm.
Yes, it's our job to help them rebuild, but it's not our job to mourn for them. To be shocked, to be sad, to want to help–yes. But to mourn? I think mourning for someone you don't know can be shallow, can demean the process. Rather than mourning a loss that may not be ours, I think we should focus on helping the people who remain.
…but, okay, I have another question about Tuesday's lecture. Do we really just help other people because, ultimately, it's beneficial to ourselves? I've been thinking a lot about this issue recently (specifically in regard to Ayn Rand's philosophy of objectivism — admittedly, I have never read any of her work and only know fragments of her thoughts, so please forgive me in advance for butchering any of the concepts she presents), and I think it comes down to fundamental ideas about our individual purpose on the earth. Should my goal be to manipulate the system to best serve my needso? To just be happy? Or to give to others–to give myself and to contribute directly to the people around me?
I tend to believe in the last one. I have no idea what'll happen when I die. Eventually, the earth will end (the sun will explore, or global warming will destroy the planet, or what have you). Every single book, every building, every dollar bill, everything physical will be gone. I don't have particular religious beliefs, but the only thing that I think has any type of potential permanence is energy–souls, I guess. So, the way I see it is if I can contribute positivesly to both my energy and the energy of other, then that's more lasting than anything else I can do with my life.
But is it all just about benefiting ourselves, in the end? Is that ultimately why we help others?
Tuesday’s lecture about the devastating tragedy that recently occurred in Haiti was truly an eye opener for me. It’s one thing to hear about it on the news and read articles about it, but actually seeing the pictures and hearing the raw/personal stories from someone who went to the country and experienced the aftermath first hand, really put things in a totally new perspective for me. The moment that the picture was shown in which the man was standing on the pile of dead bodies in mourning, I was completely lost for words. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before, and my heart genuinely broke for the country and those who were affected by the natural disaster. It’s one of those things were I knew it was bad, but I didn’t realize HOW BAD it actually was; simply hearing the total death count sent chills up my body. Sitting in on that lecture really made me want to become more proactive and look into more ways in which I could do something to help. One thing that was brought up in lecture that I think the public needs to become much more aware of, is how the donations (texts donating money, water, food, etc.) can be counterproductive in getting the country to progress and move towards rebuilding their lives. If more people realized that this could ultimately make Haiti dependent/beggars, maybe they would better research organizations, which could lead to them actually learning more about the situation as opposed to sending a text message and forgetting about it the next day.
In lecture, someone brought up the fact that as soon as the earthquake in Chile occurred, the media’s focus on Haiti diminished little by little each day there after. Obviously, we live in the United States, so the vast majority of information we get about what’s going on in the world around us comes directly from the mass media.
That being said, I think the part of the problem with this whole issue with regards to the public’s responsibility to Haiti, lies within the media and whether or not they are genuinely doing their job of informing and educating us on ALL of the important things going on in the world. I’m not saying that the media should take all the accountability in the situation, because I do think that society needs to take matters into their own hands and put forth additional effort. However, I can’t help but wonder where our priorities lie when the top headlines are Larry King’s divorce, Tiger Woods’ affairs, which celebrities broke up, etc. When the media stops covering these stories we seem to forget about their existence. We forget that even though the papers/news stops covering it, the situation still exists and people are still struggling.
I feel guilty admitting it, but previous to Tuesday’s class, I hadn’t thought about the earthquake in Haiti for a while. I’m not trying to make excuses for myself, but I have a busy schedule and have barely had time for myself this past semester. In addition to preparing for graduation in May and figuring out what I’m going to do come a month or so, I have a full class schedule, job applications/interviews, a part-time job, homework, studying, clubs, etc. to worry about. It’s not that I don’t care about Haiti, because I do. I get emotional even thinking about what these people are going through. I’m from Long Island and when 9/11 happened I knew many people that lost their lives. The experience was life changing and I struggled with the aftermath for a long time afterwards. Considering MANY more people died in Haiti, I can only imagine what life is like there right now. We all lead very different lives filled with very different responsibilities, and unfortunately, unless things directly affect us personally we tend to push them aside and treat them as less of a priority.
In this world people do not know what they have until they lose it. People cannot care about others if those ‘others’ are not directly in their lives we can sympathize but that’s pretty much it. Unfortunately that is how some people work in this world. Maybe those have lost loved ones in 9/11 or in some other accident know and understand those pains. Maybe those who have worried about having enough food on the table, could understand their pain.But if people put themselves in the shoes of those Haitians who have lost loved ones and have no money to feed their children or themselves, they would not continue eating their dinners after hearing about this tragedy they would probably try looking for the next flight to Haiti.
However not everyone in the world is like this, for example I would love to go down to Haiti and lend a helping hand however helping costs money and I do not have the money to buy a ticket to Haiti and have enough money to maintain myself for however long I would like to stay. In Tuesday’s lecture we were asked that if we wanted to help, we could put our name and email address down for more information. So I guess I just have to wait and see what they tell me. Until then I just hear about all the stuff that is going on down there, feel compassion and then go about my daily life.
This is an interesting idea. I had never really thought about it before, and while yes hearing that 300,000 people died does affect me and I am sad and left feeling helpless, it does not affect me in the same way as the death of someone in my family, or someone I knew well would. I am able to push it out of my mind and focus on other things for hours on end, but would be completely unable to do so had someone I knew died. But how can we feel that connected to something that we are so unfamiliar with? Familiarizing ourselves with it after helps to some degree, but I feel like it's impossible to feel the same emotions towards people you never knew compared with people you know well and love. You can help those people out, and you should most definitely want to and follow through with it, but you don't have the same connection. Is there a way to acquire this? I don't know, I don't really think there is.
I totally agree with the person that made the question. We should help, not only because it is "one world", but also because it happened 1 hour away from Miami. For those of you who do not know where Haiti is… is not too far away from the borders of the US. As part of a big country and the largest economy in the world, people should feel responsible for the people in need. If we have the ability, we have the responsibility. There are many ways in which people could help in Haiti, there are no excuses and it will makes us happy. Does everyone agree with me? Who thinks that we do not need to help poor countries like Haiti? and Why?
I took a class about environmental tourism and global citizenship. I feel this issue has a lot to do with being a global citizen. I think many people have the opinion that when tragedy strikes another country, it is their problem and not ours. But we have to realize we are all connected. We are all humans. And yes we have our country, and yes we can take pride in our country and our people, but we a cannot forget and turn our heads to others who need help (especially when we are in the position/have the ability to help). A lot of people in this world don’t see it that way, and it is unfortunate.
Sometimes I feel that a number, especially, a big number like 300,000 does not do justice to the actual human loss. Each person was an individual. Each person was a mother, father, sister, brother, etc. I think that this point is overlooked sometimes during these massive tragedies. The tsunami was another example of this. We are farther removed from these tragedies because they are not happening here in America. I understand this, but I think that we should at least stop and think about the actual human loss from time to time. It is easy to donate ten dollars, and it’s a good thing. I just think we have to make ourselves realize what actually happened down there.