(24-01-2010, 10:52 AM)El Gordo Wrote: Nothing wrong with being positive, of course, but it doesn't cure the disease, or delay the consequences, despite popular belief. It also puts pressure on women not to express justifiable outrage or misery. It's also a highly profitable industry.
I see both sides, though you have to wonder what happens to the afflicted when the ribbons come off and the band moves on to the next
cause Celeb (sic); in some ways the deafening silence after the party could make things a whole lot worse.
I'm certainly getting hacked off with the emotional tsunami flooding the media (including the Twittersphere) regarding Haiti. If the US treats Haiti like it did Peru - that is, make an enormous, globally public fuss and call for all good people to rally under the flag, promise help to rebuild and when the cameras move along simply look the other way - then you may as well send troops through the streets of Port au Prince to despatch the survivors. Better that than the cruelty of 'save today to starve tomorrow'. The people of Peru had every right this week to politely ask what happened to the US$ 20 million they were promised after devastating 'quakes in 2007 and 2009. That said the US seems to have learned from the shameful (lack of) response following Katrina, taking a comendable lead this time. A bit like helping a stricken neighbour after one of your own children has suffered terribly from neglect perhaps, but it's a step in the right direction. Of course it helps if you divorce your socially crippled, bullying brute of a husband and take up with that nice Mr Obama.
Cancer, like the congenital poverty and dreadful suffering in Haiti exposed and multiplied horrifically last week, doesn't sleep, give second chances or quit. It piles on the pressure, 24/7, 365. Raising awareness is all well and good but some of the bandwagons are creaking at the axles, most notably with tearful celebs tripping over themsleves to add another ribbon to their portfolio. I don't count Brad & Angelina (or Clooney for that matter) amongst them; they've consistently used their fame and fortune to battle against injustices, the former building homes in Louisiana over several years to shelter the Katrina homeless. The sound of artist after artist queueing up to weep into the microphone during the recent Haiti Telethon left me feeling a tad queezy.
I meant to say I find I agree to some extent with the opinions expressed above but I've ended up ranting like a rabid junkie. Sincere apologies
