It shouldn’t surprise me, but it does. Jan Egeland, UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, made reference to the United States as “stingy.”
This not only surprises me, it ticks the socks off me. Within one day of the tsunami tragedy in Sri Lanka, the United States was stepping up to the plate with the first chunk of millions, fifteen of them. But, to certain international-type folks who are used to sucking non-stop from the bottomless teat of American goodwill, that just wasn’t good enough.
Well, excuse us for not coming up with more than $15 million in the first 24 hours! How tacky of us! And scarcely before Colin Powell had time to remind Mr. Egeland that “The United States is not stingy. We are the greatest contributor to international relief efforts in the world.”,
that initial amount from the U.S. had been increased to $35 million. In the midst of dead bodies still washing ashore, we are accused of negligence. Can the world not give us a minute to get to the bank and put the check in the mail? And oh, by the way, the U.S. is also sending military resources in the form of aircraft carriers and airplanes to assist. For those world citizens who are used to relying on America to help them with every crisis, allow me to point out that operating and diverting ships and planes costs money--lots of money.
Don’t get me wrong. We’ll gladly send the cash and the resources, and we don't even care about a thank-you. Americans are always happy to help. Witness the private donations pouring in from uncounted thousands of American citizens to the tsunami relief efforts. Private donations from individual Americans undoubtedly will reach far into the millions. I think our willingness to assist our overseas neighbors in need is a two-edged blade. Yes, the charitable U.S. accomplishes many positive things. But our generosity doesn’t seem to foster much gratitude. Instead, it tends to feed a sense of entitlement from the rest of the world that we “owe” them because we have it so good.
They may be right. I will certainly make an appropriate donation to the relief organization of my choice, and I’ll say my prayers for the dead and suffering people of Asia. But I’ll do those things because I know Who I owe—and it sure isn’t Jan Egeland.
