After being incredibly ill for a long while over the weekend and having a lot of alone time at Theta since most of the seniors’ agendas are bars bars bars, I was busy sleuthing for some “laughable” things to brighten my mood. What I found was indeed laughable; some honestly funny (new Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown’s “Cosmopolitan” photo shoot anyone?), and one so atrocious it has to be laughed at. I’ve been in a pensive, reach outside of West Lafayette sort of mood lately, to the point where my NetFlix queue has become pages of documentaries, and while I realize my articles usually are lighthearted, I have to mention this.
Paul Shirley, an NBA player who most recently played for the Suns and Bulls (and now plays for Unicaja Málaga in Spain) spends part of his career as a “writer.” He recently wrote a long blog entry for FlipCollective.com (see the link at the bottom of the story to read it) about the consequences the Haiti earthquake has caused for the country and its people.
Here is a tidbit of the blog entry; it’s a proposed letter that Shirley would like to send to the Haitians:
“Dear Haitians –
First of all, kudos on developing the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Your commitment to human rights, infrastructure, and birth control should be applauded.
As we prepare to assist you in this difficult time, a polite request: If it’s possible, could you not re-build your island home in the image of its predecessor? Could you not resort to the creation of flimsy shanty- and shack-towns? And could some of you maybe use a condom once in a while?
Sincerely,
The Rest of the World”
Shirley moves on to ask, “Shouldn’t much of the responsibility for the disaster lie with the victims of that disaster? I understand that it is difficult to plan for the aftermath of an earthquake. However, it is not outside the realm of imagination to think that the citizens of a country might be able to: A) avoid putting themselves into a situation that might result in such catastrophic loss of life. And B) provide for their own aid, in the event of such a catastrophe.”
Yes, Paul. Haitians chose to live on a fault line, so they could put themselves in as much danger as possible. They had the ability to predict which buildings would fall and when, and how many lives would be lost. They possessed the governmental infrastructure and funding to engineer sound, earthquake-proof buildings. Are there social issues in Haiti that have made the after effects of the earthquake worse? Yes. But does that justify holding out on aid as a form of punishment because their country couldn’t pull itself out of third world status before the quake hit? My hope for Haiti is that the basic human instincts of love and compassion (whether it is in the form of a monetary or material donation, prayer, volunteering effort, etc.) will continue to surpass moronic negativity like Shirley has so very well illustrated.
Read the article here: http://www.flipcollective.com/2010/01/26/if-you-rebuild-it-they-will-come-by-paul-shirley/
Published: February 3, 2010
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