tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3543355.post112238396684409260..comments2023-11-15T17:55:18.051-05:00Comments on MarkDaniels.Blogspot.com: My Darfur FailureMark Danielshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18205344762960756655noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3543355.post-1122578964148778752005-07-28T15:29:00.000-04:002005-07-28T15:29:00.000-04:00I wonder that people "amuse themselves to death" b...I wonder that people "amuse themselves to death" because there's so little the average American can do to change situations like Dafur - we can send money to charities, we can pray about it, we can write letters, we can march, we can hear nothing but the news coming out of Dafur. And yet, we can't make our government respond better, differently. I've written letters to Congressmen...and to what effect? I remember the frustration with Iraq, really wanting to believe what I was being told about WMDs because I had to trust the government (a conservative administration I didn't choose). To what effect? I learned the story was untrue (I'm not laying blame...simply that I cannot trust what anyone says). I listen now to Dafur (among other terrible calamity) and all I can do is weep. Utterly helpless because I've done it all and continue to do what I can.<BR/><BR/>In such a state, I flip the television station and watch the latest foibles of Tom Cruise, or learn what epic Peter Jackson is filming. I make cookies for my children. I do not have the money to make change, to put in a new administration with real vision (such men and women aren't even up for the running), I don't own a large corporation (and yes, I agree, we don't live in a democracy, megacorporations now run the country).<BR/><BR/>I believe the masses do not choose to hear about Tom Cruise over Dafur, I believe they're helpless to hear about Dafur. We're much imprisoned and simply close our eyes to ease the inevitable pain.Adriana Blisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14120973373594320270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3543355.post-1122519406858396282005-07-27T22:56:00.000-04:002005-07-27T22:56:00.000-04:00Great post and comments. I was just thinking earli...Great post and comments. I was just thinking earlier today, before reading this, of Postman's book, in connection with another blogger's post on an unrelated topic. I have long thought that the title AMUSING OURSELVES TO DEATH is the single most incisive comment that has ever been made about contemporary American society.Richard Lawrence Cohenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01951947957345891398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3543355.post-1122417395746323892005-07-26T18:36:00.000-04:002005-07-26T18:36:00.000-04:00Paul:I appreciate your taking the time to read and...Paul:<BR/>I appreciate your taking the time to read and to comment on this post.<BR/><BR/>Your comments raise several important points, I think:<BR/><BR/>(1) Clearly, our federal government could spend a larger percentage of its annual budget on foreign aid. At present, less than 1% of our budget is so spent. The Marshall Plan, with which Europe was reconstructed following World War Two, demonstrates how wise an investment foreign aid can be. <BR/><BR/>As you know, I support the One Campaign for Africa and am heartened by the victory it achieved at the G8 Summit. To me, the decision to forgive debts is a matter of enlightened self-interest. As a member of the "realist" school of foreign policy, I expect governments to act in the best interest of their people and a wise and targeted program of foreign aid and debt relief for nations in Africa is in America's interest.<BR/><BR/>(2) But our government's resources are not endless. Fortunately though, much of what our government can do to bring an end to the horrors in Darfur won't cost a penny. The President and his administration already have done some things. It was at US insistence, for example, that the UN labeled what's going on in Sudan as "genocide." One must applaud both former Secretary of State Colin Powell and his successor, Condoleezza Rice, for making some effort to put this issue on the front burner of the international agenda.<BR/><BR/>But I'm hopeful that our government will exert more pressure on the African Union, the European Union, and the organization of Muslim nations to engage in a full-court press on the regime in Khartoum.<BR/><BR/>The greatest amount of good, I believe, can be done by relief agencies in the NGO category--Samaritan's Purse, Lutheran World Relief, Catholic Relief Services, and others. If the nations and organizations I mentioned earlier can secure a peace, then these relief groups can go in and bring some help to the people of Darfur.<BR/><BR/>(3) Frankly, I regard every effort to reform our campaign finance "system" in America over the past three decades as sort of misguided and stupid. That includes efforts to "modify" it. <BR/><BR/>Like you, I regard it as absurd to claim, in effect, that if you have more money, you should have more "free" speech. <BR/><BR/>But, while I understand the connections you're positing, I'd rather stick to discussing Darfur. Even pols elected under the current system are capable of understanding what's at stake here.<BR/><BR/>Thanks again for your comments.Mark Danielshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18205344762960756655noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3543355.post-1122403452728693152005-07-26T14:44:00.000-04:002005-07-26T14:44:00.000-04:00Our failure too - to some extent. But I think our ...Our failure too - to some extent. But I think our system is really breaking down here in America.<BR/><BR/>My personal experiences with our health care system are what led me to recognize that it's really almost hard to describe what we have here in America now as democracy. It's rule by the major corporations.<BR/><BR/>And a major if not the root cause is how we've come to finance political campaigns thanks to the Buckley v Valeo Supreme Court decision that equates political contributions with "free speech."<BR/><BR/>Money's been talking with a megaphone ever since. No matter how much Americans may care about the larger world, we've gotten ourselves in a situation where our only choices for leader of the free world are guys beholden to special interests.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14770384445526387065noreply@blogger.com