from This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow
A Rush Limbaugh caller wants to know where all the foreign aid from other countries for America was during the Florida hurricanes.
OK all you Limbaugh listeners, try to follow along at home as I walk you through this. No matter what you've heard, the US is a very, very wealthy nation. The per capita income in the US is about $35,000. Hurricane Charley hit on Friday, August 13th. By Tuesday, August 17th, FEMA had already issued more than $2 million in checks for disaster relief. Ten days later President Bush asked Congress for $2 billion dollars for aid (he wasn't on vacation then, and its possible that the election had something to do with the amount). Since then the Small Business Administration alone has provided more than $1 billion to Florida businesses to fix hurricane damage.
Meanwhile, Malaysia's per capita income is $3,550, Thailand's is $2,000, Sri Lanka's is $850, India's is $450. The US poverty level for an individual with no children is just over $9,000.
To spell it out so that even Rush's most drug addled listeners can understand, even the poorest among us tend to make several times the average per capita income in the countries hit by the quake and tsunami. And it is tragic that some people lost their lives and their homes in the Florida hurricanes. Meanwhile at least 120,000 people were killed in Asia, and the extent of the damage will make it difficult for aid to reach those in need.
This disaster is much worse than the Florida hurricanes, even all four of them put together. Without the aid that we and other charitable people and governments provide, people will soon begin to starve to death or die of cholera and other diseases.
So lighten up, try to hate less and care more, like Jesus said.
