A contrast
Hurricane Gustav and Ike have devastated Cuba, causing some 5 billion dollars in damage. Over 200,000 are homeless.
Meanwhile, on Wall Street, the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the near collapse of AIG has left many upset. Some have even lost jobs. Also, the stock market is lower, so some people may have lost money.
The US government has generously offered aid to each. The bailout package for Wall Street is an estimated 700 billion.
To the Cubans, the Bush administration offered 100,000 dollars. Not kidding. They later upped the number to 5 million.
posted by Steven at 5:02 PM
4 Comments:
700 billion is almost enough to make me wish I'd been born without a brain too.
6:47 AM
Also, 100,000 is enough to give every one of those 200,000 homeless people 50 cents. That's more than most people do for the homeless in this country.
6:49 AM
actually, there are a lot of resources for the homeless here in the US. Paid for by a mixture of the government and private agencies. Giving money to homeless people in the streets most likely perpetuates the behavior.
Besides the fact that those devastated by the hurricane are vastly more needy.
10:50 PM
Yes I know I'm a bit garbled in my wording...I meant that giving a 100,000 to the disaster relief in Cuba is the psychological twin of throwing a quarter at a beggar. It salves the conscience, without hurting the wallet...
12:42 PM
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