Atlas Shrugged
January 05, 2005
The American generosity will change the Muslim cry from:"Death to America" to perhaps "Death---But Deliver the Goods First."
Yes, The Good Book advises to "turn the other cheek" and "do good to them that hate you." But enough is enough. Have we not heard? Muslims hate America and Americans. Their goal is to kill Americans, Christians, and Jews. We don't have to guess about that. They've so stated.
The American people experienced several devastating hurricanes last year. Billions were lost as were many lives. Could anybody tell us how much aid was sent to stricken Floridians from Indonesia and other Muslim countries? none!
But, more importantly, did it ever occur that we don't have $350 million to give? At last report the US is running a multibillion deficit and trillions in debt.
I'm angered that Americans are giving aid and comfort to the enemy as are many other Americans, I'm quite sure. [emoticon: red-faced self rightoues indignation]
wrz - location USA
The above comment appeared in response to an article in the Provo Daily Herald (Utah). Provo sits in the heart of what must be one of the reddest counties in one of the reddest states in the West, if not the country. The sentiments are disturbing, even dismaying, but not entirely surprising. More of the same followed. There is no dance more treasured by those born to easy priviledge then the Lockstep Continuum. Just keep moving, do what everyone else is doing, and don't ever look as contented as you really feel.
"Why don't Osama, Syria, Iran and the Saudis take care of the Muslims? If we give them aid, some of it will surely turn to weapons to be used against U.S.! Where was aid from them during our disasters?? [emoticon: red-faced sadness]" -- Guest
"I would not give the Muslims one dime!!
Yours Truly, Every american who died in 9-11 and the Iraq war." -- bird
"Don't worry, wrz, if the Al Qaeda is there, as it seems that they are, they'll take the aid and spit on it first, and then they'll use the cans to make improvised explosive devices to kill our American soldiers in Iraq.
Hey, haven't you heard that President Bush caused these tsunamis? He shifted the tectonic plates with his own hands. Gosh, what power is ascribed to George Walker Bush.
And we wonder why our world is headed toward destruction. Hey, I'm surprised we've made it this far." -- SilentReader
Tempted to agree, over here. With attitudes like this, well, we are all our own worst enemies.
One intrepid soul pointed out that the LDS Church is providing, literally, boatloads of aid in conjunction with Islamic Relief Worldwide. The accompanying comment: "Man, stuff like this must really make your head explode..."
A sample response: "I assume that you refer to the church giving aid. That does not upset me in the least. That is the way it should be.
That being said, where in the U.S. constitution does it say that our government has any right to give away tax payer money, especially to outside interests - of any kind? Just curious...."
Notice the caveat "the church". No mention of Islamic Relief Worldwide. The LDS Church is, of course, the predominant religious faith of Provo and Utah county in which it sits. There's no need, in other words, to describe what church you mean. Charitable works by other faiths don't really bear mention. But the comments about constitutional law or mandate are especially troubling. This is a, after all, the same people who will tell you that the Constitution of the United States of America was crafted by Christians and therefore imbued with divine properties right up there with the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and The Work and the Glory. (Utah inside joke. Look it up.) But we'll leave that little contradiction right where it is.
It's easy to chalk up such spiteful views to insular communities where homogeneity is valued above all. Living in a slightly more cosmpolitan community a bit north of Provo, it's easy to believe that hateful attitudes may go underground but only rarely atrophy and vanish. They seep into the ground, into the watertable, collect in thinktanks and then emerge in times of grave crisis, erupting like boils across the landscape. In the Bad New Days there are those with not only the interest but the power to sow divisiveness and reap conflict. This is bloodsport. On the one hand, it is abhorrent to witness this emerging crypto-fascism. On the other, at least we can get a good look at its purveyors. One of them is David Holcberg, of the Ayn Rand Institute:
Our money is not the government's to give.As the death toll mounts in the areas hit by Sunday's tsunami in southern Asia, private organizations and individuals are scrambling to send out money and goods to help the victims. Such help may be entirely proper, especially considering that most of those affected by this tragedy are suffering through no fault of their own.
The United States government, however, should not give any money to help the tsunami victims. Why? Because the money is not the government's to give.
Every cent the government spends comes from taxation. Every dollar the government hands out as foreign aid has to be extorted from an American taxpayer first. Year after year, for decades, the government has forced American taxpayers to provide foreign aid to every type of natural or man-made disaster on the face of the earth: from the Marshall Plan to reconstruct a war-ravaged Europe to the $15 billion recently promised to fight AIDS in Africa to the countless amounts spent to help the victims of earthquakes, fires and floods--from South America to Asia. Even the enemies of the United States were given money extorted from American taxpayers: from the billions given away by Clinton to help the starving North Koreans to the billions given away by Bush to help the blood-thirsty Palestinians under Arafat's murderous regime.
So you see, everyone is an enemy or a potential enemy. No mention is made of the billions in aid and arms sales to Israel, which daily carries out some of the most draconian, murderous and racist policies on the planet. Those are tax dollars, as well. Oh, and there's that small matter of God Only Knows How Many Billions And Counting tax dollars are being spent slaughtering the people of Iraq.
However, Mr. Holcberg almost gets it.
"This is why Americans--the wealthiest people on earth--are expected to sacrifice (voluntarily or by force) the wealth they have earned to provide for the needs of those who did not earn it. It is Americans' acceptance of altruism that renders them morally impotent to protest against the confiscation and distribution of their wealth."
Close. I bet most Americans are "morally impotent to protest against the confiscation and redistribution of... wealth" when they see the horrifying reality and aftermath of a disaster of, yes, Biblical proportions. Suddenly, being asked to part with a little wealth doesn't seem so immoral. Mr. Holcberg stresses it's the Principal- er, principle of the thing.
"It is past time to question--and to reject--such a vicious morality that demands that we sacrifice our values instead of holding on to them."
Again, he's so close to sounding like a human being, it's tempting to root for him. Maybe we can help a little...
It is past time to question--and to reject--such a vicous amorality that demands we sacrifice our empathic understanding of the human condition in order to bomb everyone not like us. It is time to reject the fearmongers and racist trash that bristle at the thought of aiding and abetting an enemy they allow others to define for them. It is time to reject the idea that a $27M advance warning system was too expensive for a region where Indonesia alone spends upwards of $1 billion on defense, mostly from America and its allies. It is time to reject the idea that the world's wealthiest nation can spend $40M on the inauguration of its President but some of its wealthiest and most priveleged citizens agonize over whether $35M should be wasted on people dumb enough to be born poor, brown, and Muslim. Our Enemy.
[emoticon: ashen-faced shame]
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