Chile

[dynamitekid]

There's something that's been bothering me for a while. As we all know, there was a major earthquake in Chile last week. It destroyed 500,000 buildings and killed almost a thousand people. It's a terrible loss and a tragedy but it seems like we heard about it for a day and then nothing. Now, compare this to Haiti. Haiti was in the news for weeks and there were numerous telethons, charities and people giving money to the people of Haiti. Now, i'm not saying that they are the same situation (because Haiti was obviously more devastating) but the thing I don't get is why care about one thing and not the other? It just seems like Haiti happened and everyone wanted to help and the next situation comes a long and there is no help for them. Furthermore, there are parts of our own country that are still devastated from something that happened 5 years ago (Louisiana) and few seem willing to help them anymore. It seems weird to me that we have these flavor of the month tragedies that people suddenly care about when there are so many other problems that should be addressed. Just my two cents and I don't mean to insult anyone.

[cesar11]

I know what you mean and completely agree with you. There was one also in Taiwan last night/early this morning and nothing as well. Instead of this being a major story, Yahoo! has a story on the best tasting peanut butter on its first page.

[xfedaykinx]

i think there are a lot of factors.

one being the sheer poverty of Haiti means it requires much more aid than Chile. Chile is one of the richest countries in S. America, and on top of that, at first they said they didn't want any aid. They soon changed their tune when they finally got a handle on the situation.

another is the fact that times are tough, and while people may have been more able/willing to give up some disposable income for Haiti, they may be unable to give anything again.

there is also something i was reading that i think they were calling "empathy fatigue." the basic idea is that you can get drained from pouring out sympathies that you just cant handle anymore and just sort of shut off to new crises.

one charity reported receiving $3,500 for chile, which was 1/8th of 1% of their donations for Haiti.

[xxfesterxx]

ya pisses me off as well..... arent we all equal? Do you think the U.S. would get any help from other countries if we had a big disaster ie Katrina. Bull Shit

[rtw88]

ya pisses me off as well..... arent we all equal? Do you think the U.S. would get any help from other countries if we had a big disaster ie Katrina. Bull Shit

If you can look at living conditions in other countries and ponder whether or not we are all equal then you are not looking hard enough. No, we are not all equal. If we were then we wouldn't pay people in other countries to do things for 1/100th of the cost we pay our own citizens.

The reason nobody gives a shit about Chile is because tragedies are so March. If Jamie Foxx wants to make some other autotune disaster in support of Chile then people will start caring. Until then none of the fairweather philanthropists will give a shit.

I'm not saying this stuff isn't sad. I'm just saying that it's a sad state of affairs when people aren't concerned with things unless Lil Wayne tells them they should be.

[flood]

the US doesn't need aid in disaster situations, and would have to literally have half the country on fire before they let a militarized disaster relief task force from another country in to help. Not to mention its about how vital the destroyed area is to the country, not to discount NOLA and start a shitstorm, but its not as vital to the country as say NYC or Washington DC are for the countries economic and political operations.

Haiti was in a shitload of trouble before the quake, and in no way could ever recover without foreign aid.. it would just be impossible. And from a sheer political point of view, the US can't have a country in that state of turmoil that close to its borders... look at the 50 years of shit storm Cuba has been.

Chile is a developed nation, it will receive aid from foreign nations, but will probably resist any form of militarized aid coming in. It will recover, but it will take time.

and as mentioned... theres only so much cash to go around... its not like people wouldn't help Chile, its just maybe they dropped the % of their income they could give to a charity at this point in the year to Haiti already... at some point you just can't give anymore.

[xxfesterxx]

What I said I should have worded differently but am in the library and to lazy to take the time shouldn't have posted at all lol

I'm not saying this stuff isn't sad. I'm just saying that it's a sad state of affairs when people aren't concerned with things unless Lil Wayne tells them they should be.

This made me laugh but is so true......

[lonesomexloveus]

the situations aren't that similar once you get past the 'all those places were devastated by natural disasters' blanket statement.

[dynamitekid]

Regardless of the similarity of the situations, the point still stands. Imagine what even half the money that was given for Haiti could have done in the U.S. You are telling me people don't want to pay .25% more in taxes a year to better their own country but they are more than willing to help out the people of Haiti?

[xxfesterxx]

Regardless of the similarity of the situations, the point still stands. Imagine what even half the money that was given for Haiti could have done in the U.S. You are telling me people don't want to pay .25% more in taxes a year to better their own country but they are more than willing to help out the people of Haiti?

+1

[flood]

Regardless of the similarity of the situations, the point still stands. Imagine what even half the money that was given for Haiti could have done in the U.S. You are telling me people don't want to pay .25% more in taxes a year to better their own country but they are more than willing to help out the people of Haiti?

ok you're not thinking this through at all.

take the big picture of what could happen.

Haiti, all infrastructure, industry, and government wiped out. Country is now lawless, desperate and starving. If left to die, you will see outbreaks of piracy in the area, much like you are seeing in different parts of africa... now Haiti is located in one of the biggest shipping/touristy areas anywhere bordering the US. You will see a ton of armed attacks on ships, as well as tourist destinations... because these people have no other choice to survive. You also open up a power vaccuum where you're going to have warlord type control of areas... the US does not want shit like this going down that close to its border

[xxfesterxx]

Regardless of the similarity of the situations, the point still stands. Imagine what even half the money that was given for Haiti could have done in the U.S. You are telling me people don't want to pay .25% more in taxes a year to better their own country but they are more than willing to help out the people of Haiti?

ok you're not thinking this through at all.

take the big picture of what could happen.

Haiti, all infrastructure, industry, and government wiped out. Country is now lawless, desperate and starving. If left to die, you will see outbreaks of piracy in the area, much like you are seeing in different parts of africa... now Haiti is located in one of the biggest shipping/touristy areas anywhere bordering the US. You will see a ton of armed attacks on ships, as well as tourist destinations... because these people have no other choice to survive. You also open up a power vaccuum where you're going to have warlord type control of areas... the US does not want shit like this going down that close to its border

ok i will give you that Flood but the average person donating 10 dollars via text isnt thinking the way you are...

[One Hundred Fifty-Two]

Flavor of the Month charities suck. Care year round or don't care at all.

[lonesomexloveus]

Regardless of the similarity of the situations, the point still stands. Imagine what even half the money that was given for Haiti could have done in the U.S. You are telling me people don't want to pay .25% more in taxes a year to better their own country but they are more than willing to help out the people of Haiti?

yes.

[bullflip]

i think everyone of you is not looking at the big important picture. cesar11, what was the best tasting peanut butter? was it Skippy?

[username]

I know what you mean and completely agree with you. There was one also in Taiwan last night/early this morning and nothing as well. Instead of this being a major story, Yahoo! has a story on the best tasting peanut butter on its first page.

why does yahoo! always have the most random articles on the home page? half the time it seems like it's "ten ways to tell your man is cheating" or "5 signs the relationship won't work"