I'm actually seeing people making that argument for why Haiti shouldn't receive any earthquake relief at all.
... I'm... I can't even begin to address this. It's inhuman, subhuman, I'm not even certain of the English (German has a better word for it: Unmenschlich). It's one thing when there is nothing that can be done to help, but where aid can be given to deny it is... I don't know. I can't articulate it.
The other article you linked made me laugh.
"I came away convinced that the American model is in fact better, but it was useless to try to persuade continental Europeans of this fact."
No kidding, yes? Other nations actually place value on quality of life, not just on acquisition of wealth. I know this is difficult for some people to grasp, and most particularly citizens of the United States who think everyone should do things their way because it works for them! In re: exciting lives, this fellow should really have to live as a self-sustaining hunter gatherer for a bit. He would have a far better grasp of how exciting it is to live or die by one's own efforts, and the vagaries of an entirely unsympathetic world.
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Date: 2010-01-16 02:50 am (UTC)... I'm... I can't even begin to address this. It's inhuman, subhuman, I'm not even certain of the English (German has a better word for it: Unmenschlich). It's one thing when there is nothing that can be done to help, but where aid can be given to deny it is... I don't know. I can't articulate it.
The other article you linked made me laugh.
"I came away convinced that the American model is in fact better, but it was useless to try to persuade continental Europeans of this fact."
No kidding, yes? Other nations actually place value on quality of life, not just on acquisition of wealth. I know this is difficult for some people to grasp, and most particularly citizens of the United States who think everyone should do things their way because it works for them! In re: exciting lives, this fellow should really have to live as a self-sustaining hunter gatherer for a bit. He would have a far better grasp of how exciting it is to live or die by one's own efforts, and the vagaries of an entirely unsympathetic world.