Calamities Around the World

The thing that really gets to me about all of this is the fact that our own problems are overseen and forgotten in the midst of tragedies across the world. Recently, Hurricane Ike struck just about all of Cuba enroute to Texas, and the damage caused in Cuba was foreboding; but at the same time, that same hurricane left Cuba, traveled the distance across the Gulf of Mexico, and struck one of our own states--Texas. So while everyone is caught up in the mishaps at Cuba, the people of Texas are being overshadowed for being in a more fortunate situation since they reside in the U.S.

Let me tell you something--there is nothing fortunate about what happened in Texas, nor is there anything fortunate about what happened at Cuba. Sure, the U.S. is a more prosperous nation, but we have to take care of our own nation before we send items into foreign territories in hopes of helping other people.

As a future philanthropist, I naturally feel remorse towards anybody in a tough situation as those in Haiti, Cuba, and even Texas, but the fact of the matter is, there are problems like these all around the world, and as much as you'd like to try to help out everyone, it's just not possible. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to help, but the problem is that you don't know where your donated items are really going to. Because of this, you have to use caution when donating to seemingly rightful causes, since you may be led to believe that you're making a difference to those unfortunate people when in reality you're getting scammed.

I'm glad, though, that there are people willing to give to those in dire need, because I feel like if you're in a position that you can give, then you should be giving to those in these unfortunate situations. It's times like these where the U.S. bands together to aid third-world countries that are in less fortunate economic conditions, regardless of tension amongst those countries. And it's times like these where I can say that I'm proud to be an American.