The Alms Race

Where once we had the arms race, now it's the alms race as everybody competes to see who can hurl the most money at the tsunami victims. It could be worse, I guess. All this puffing up of the chest feathers and emptying of moneypurses is at least going to feed and shelter the homeless today and rebuild their livelihoods and economies tomorrow. Still, I can't help feeling that if not for the "glamour" of being associated with the world's worst catastrophe since Krakatoa, would these same governments and corporations care? Hundreds of thousands of people die every day from disease, malnutrition, and just plain poverty around the world. How often does anyone make a fuss about this?

One big earthquake in a known quake zone and a bunch of dead tourists later, and the great and mighty Western nations are frenziedly trying to outbid each other. Last I heard, Australia and Germany were winning the magnanimosity stakes.

The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami was a disaster, no doubt about it. It's the single biggest natural catastrophe in probably most people's lifetimes. We do what we can to help out, but there's still something about the Telethon mentality in donating funds and iad that leaves me vaguely uneasy, as if it were all just a matter of posturing. See how rich I am, that I can give so much. Measure my compassion by my benevolence.

As I said before, though, it could be so much worse. For today, I'll take the illusion of goodwill over naked hatred and fear anyday.