The US, Where the World Seeks Charity

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What’s wrong with this picture? For that matter, what was wrong with all the similar signs you might have seen in photographs and television pictures from Banda Aceh, Indonesia, after the Christmas, 2004 tsunami? I found myself wondering then, as I wonder now, why weren’t those signs lettered in French, or German, or Arabic?
Arabic would certainly have made sense in both cases. Pakistan and the Banda Aceh region of Indonesia are predominately Muslim. Arab oil sheiks are drowning in petrodollars these days. Korans around the world are supposed to be in Arabic to protect against translation errors. So wouldn’t it make more sense for Pakistani and Indonesian victims to petition their Muslim brothers, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia or Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah, for assistance in their native tongue?
It would. But, around the world, it seems that the universal language of pleading is always English. Why?
The reason is that, people in need know that, contrary to popular leftist stereotypes, the epicenters of generosity in the world are to be found in the English speaking countries. The United States, Great Britain, Australia and Canada are always first on the scene whenever there is suffering as a consequence of a natural or man-made disaster, wherever it happens.
The oil producing states around the Persian Gulf amassed embarrassing wealth when crude old sold at $20 per barrel. Imagine how their bank accounts have swollen since the price of a barrel climbed to $60 or $70 per barrel. Each barrel only takes about $4 to extract. The rest is pure profit.
And yet, after the tsunami washed lives out to sea, it was the United States and other western powers, along with Japan, that committed treasure and logistical support to provide the area with succor. The Gulf States, which probably could have found $20 billion under sofa cushions, could only find it within their hearts to give a fraction of what they have recently squeezed out of the west.
So far, the United States has donated over $1.98 billion. Australia contributed $1.4 billion. Great Britain has given $800 million and Canada provided $555 million. Japan has been good for at least half a billion dollars.
Oil and cash rich Saudi Arabia could only find $30 million for their Muslim brothers. The United Arab Emirates scrounged up $20 million and the United Nations records nothing from Iran.
France, which would never hesitate to lecture us all on such matters, was only moved by the misery to the tune of $55 million.
Is it any wonder that, when a disaster overwhelms the local governments’ capacity to assist it citizens, signs lettered in English appear for the international press? The press would have us believe that we are universally hated throughout the world. But the world knows where the world’s biggest, kindest and most generous hearts reside and what language they speak.
Of course, it could all be staged. The press is frequently busted for staging news. In 1980 the major television broadcast news networks were caught orchestrating Iranian anti-American demonstrations for their cameras. More recently, the press has choreographed Cindy Sheehan’s anti-war activities. So it’s entirely possible that the poor Pakistani man holding that sign was handed the sign by the very photographer who took the picture. I don’t think that cardboard or Sharpies are very common in that corner of Pakistan. But even so, doesn’t that mean that the media that usually disparages the United States is admitting that even they know where mercy can be found?
We should live up to our real image in the world. Certainly Americans are suffering a bit of compassion fatigue. In the last year we’ve had the tsunami, the Darfur genocide, and hurricanes Katrina and Rita. And now, within the last two weeks, Pakistan suffered its earthquake and Central America endured terrible flooding and mudslides that, in normal times, would have garnered front page headlines. But we’re Americans. We don’t disappoint. We can always dig deeper. And the world knows it.