Aid for Japan

I am both proud and disgusted by my country.  The moment there is a crisis, global or here on our own soil, news agencies put little alert notices everywhere saying that if you text a certain number you can donate money to help in the relief of the crisis.  Whether the recipient is a 3rd world nation, or one of the leading, technology-driven countries of the world, does not matter.  What matters is that they are in need, and we instantly have the opportunity to use our cell phones to donate $10 to the relief fund.  How wonderful that we are so generous and caring and willing to help out instantly.

At the same time, isn't it sort of like blind sheep jumping onto the bandwagon of the latest fad, regardless of whether that country actually wants or needs our help?  Should we wait until the country has actually requested aid?  When I fall down, I don't want 15 people to come help me stand back up again.  I want to do it myself.  But, if I ask for help, I want to know and have faith that my 15 friends will come help me when I know I really can't do it myself.  I just like my independence.  And I think there are a lot of nations out there who like to know that they are not financially beholden to the United States, or any superpower.  Are we using generosity as a form of imperialism, since true imperialism is generally frowned upon these days?

I am not saying we should not be sending aid to Japan.  Japan sent us aid when we were dealing with chaos after Hurricane Katrina.  We should send them aid to help with their tragedies.  But they did not send us money because our economy was such that we could not generate the funds to rebuild.  Nor should we send aid to Japan because their economy is such that they cannot rebuild.  We should send aid to Japan as a show of our friendship and support in a time of need, as they did for us.  Haiti, on the other hand, although they need our friendship, actually did need our money, and still does need money as they continue to deal with a destructive event that happened more than a year ago, and which we forgot about roughly 11 months ago.

On an different note,  I saw a headline today in which a mother of a student in Japan wrote to the mother of a student in NJ.  Their towns are considered sister towns, and the students correspond with each other in a form of cultural exchange.  The Japanese mother said, in broken English, basically that with enough earthquakes, there won't be anything left to fall and they could endure shaking, but what scared her most was nuclear meltdown.  She hoped the United States would be able to send scientists and physicists who know how to deal with nuclear meltdown.

Now, yes, the United States was the first to develop radioactive materials as a form of energy.  But we used it for a bomb.  If you really want help with controlling a nuclear power plant, ask the French.  Many European countries run entirely on nuclear power, and many of those countries contract the construction of their energy plants to the French.  The United States has nuclear power plants, yes.  But nuclear power in the United States is so restricted that we are running on technology put in place in the 70s.  Even plans to upgrade a nuclear plant in the US are fought over as ignorant people develop stronger aversions to the same energy that powers a "nucular" bomb.  We, as a people, only understand carbon fuels.  If you had a problem with a leaking oil well, we've got tons of experience cleaning that up.  But for all your radioactive needs, check with a country that actually educates their people about the benefits of nuclear power and has years of experience in keeping it safe.