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Hardin

By Hardin
GoNsayn.com
(Archive)
Updated: 4/3/2010

a few days ago we lazily woke up to images that morning about a country we purposely left off our wish list of desired vacation spots

As the holidays have once again come and gone we’re left with but the memories of our  family and loved ones as we again cyclically persevere to acclimate ourselves to a new year and our new economy, or lack of one thereof. With the dawning of a fresh calendar year and the chance to start all over again we again face the harsh realities of high unemployment, economic ruin, home and commercial foreclosures, etc., etc. We again brace ourselves for everything and all that resumes now that the momentary lapse in America’s dilapidation has ended with the passing of last year’s hopes and dreams.

Thinking back, we can remember that hot coffee and the aromas of a spice scented home as we comfortably wax and wane about all the baubles and druggets our lives need to make life a little more convenient. On Christmas morning we wake up to measure the love our spouses or family has for us by the value of what we subtly mentioned we couldn’t live with out. And as we get into a hot shower on our way to all the New Year’s Eve parties we excite our egos imagining all the compliments our new clothes will get us as we strut into the festivities with not a care in the world. Not a care in the world save our intent to relieve ourselves of all that ails and stresses us.

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While our hangover was subsiding a few January weeks have now passed where a few days ago we lazily woke up to images that morning about a country we purposely left off our wish list of desired vacation spots. I say probably left off the list no doubt in part to the lack of fantastical amenities the brochures may have left out or in part to the country’s poverty that pervades our conscience’s right to relish in selfish and luxurious abandon. Maybe the people just fail to capture our whimsical curiosity as we know the country is nothing more than a corrupt third world eye sore we’d rather not risk getting an infection from. Let’s be honest with ourselves. This is the thought most of us have when we think of Haiti. After all, we are Americans! And with all that this entails I need not further explain the reasons why we could care less about the earthquake that has leveled Haiti. But I’m mistaken aren’t I.

These are the ideas that come to my mind as I watch CNN and the rest of the whores greedily spin the tragedy into tales of heroism and selflessness at the hands of their own legend. And these are the ideas I affix to the American people including myself as this can be nothing more than just another inconvenience that disrupts our morning talk shows. For this attitude however, I’ve come to resent from me and my own people as I incessantly reflect how ungrateful we are as a nation and as humanitarians. If you could only call ourselves that with a straight face! You see, it’s one thing to give like a humanitarian, but it’s another to think, feel, and take action like a humanitarian. Whether altruistic or misanthropic, America has been saving and rescuing everybody in the world for as long as I can remember. No big deal. That’s what our government does. Our government! We obviously have more important things to do like Tweet somebody than take the time out to find out what we can do besides act like we care. They’ll be fine we say to ourselves so as not disturb our ennui.

But lo and behold, much to my amazement I’m wrong. I’m wrong! We aren’t just being speciously empathetic this time. We’re actually moved and shaken to our core for the tragic natural disaster that has befallen this undesirable country. We have become human it almost seems. With all the coverage we are getting of the Haitian earthquake were also receiving the byproducts of empathy we can see in the background while hoards of Americans and volunteers around the world gear up to go and help these people. These people, who in their own ruin aren’t going to just wake up tomorrow smelling the coffee and thinking about the American dream in the morning. Who aren’t going to turn down the heater because the weather has dropped a little and they’re chilly. No, the Haitians who won’t be Tweeting how happy they are to be alive either. But the possibility isn’t that far removed now by way of the outpouring of concern, care, and economic help that’s on it’s way to them. Supplies and help that’s on it’s way to them on behalf of the American people this time and not just at the hands of the government’s agendas. We really want to help this time. Do the math yourself and figure it out. It’s there for you to see as I have.  

Not to sound insensitive but this that I’m talking about is about us. It’s about how human we have again become. As this plays out we can feel the real empathy we have for these people who have nothing left. Nothing as we and the whole world can see for ourselves. For some of them not even their dignity remains and it has struck a cord in us for which I’m thankful. In myself, for which I’m grateful. We have become concerned for the Haitians as we proffer billions in aid and donate what ever food and water we have to share with them at a time when examples of our own self motivated behavior in the past illustrates the opposite. This I tell you has given me hope again in myself and our people. We really aren’t that selfish and myopic after all are we. We really can feel can’t we!

As the first few crucial hours of survival have now passed I too feel these few hours of our rebirth passing. As identification, burial, and the plight of continuing on is all that remains now so does the misanthrope of our nation. And for our own nation it seems we have also begun to heal. To heal from the wounds of self loathing, antipathy, and the vanity we have assigned our lives up until now as we sometimes easily forget that they’re not just Haitians or foreigners but human beings. Human beings that haven’t the cloak of humanity left on their bodies as all that binds their heritage and culture has been wiped away by this earthquake.

 Sure I understand, and what’s more I agree with you when you say how much more can America do. How many more people can we take in or save when our own homeless are dying on the streets. To be honest I’m not sure. But what I am sure of is, at least were starting somewhere. Maybe the recrudescence of our own American altruism is the spark that we needed to engulf the rescue of our own country. Perhaps! Or perhaps, I’m just glad to feel alive again as I watch all of us trip over each other as we hurry to offer what ever help we can to the Haitians. And this tragedy will no doubt serve to be the catalyst that familiarizes us with our own frailty and precarious human existence. As one could afford to be cynical by assuming that it’s nothing more than our hubris and vanity that we want to hide from the world, I can only dissuade this cynicism by arguing we have not the luxury or extra resources to indulge such whims due our own nation’s current situation. And I could perhaps better argue that at the end of the day, we really aren’t as selfish as the rest of the world would have us. I would also argue the fact that sometimes we don’t need explanations as to why we care or even dismiss such things that betide our lives. Or that we’re simply doing what any loving person would do in our situation. We’ll see what happens.

 
 
 


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