Freedom isn't Free

So many things infuriate me. Live 8 = Live Bull Shit. Incredibly rich celebrities receiving twelve THOUSAND dollar gift bags is more troubling to me than the fact that we haven't found a solution to end poverty. When "raising awareness" means please let us raise YOUR taxes so we can keep on keeping on with our Chanel, Gucci, and Prada. Please let us pretend to be really upset and distraught about this little issue we have going on in Africa, but please, do not let us take any real responsibility besides blocking out a couple of hours for some nifty world-wide concert. Please also forget that the God-Blessed US of A has only provided thrice as much aid as any other country to Africa. It makes me sad more than it makes me mad. And since it provides us comfort to place blame on someone, even if it is for a problem decades in the making, our fingers mysteriously find their way towards the oval office occupied by GWB. Don't worry, we are America, let us defeat terrorism, promote freedom, and save Africa. It obviously is our responsibility and we clearly forced those militants to hop on a plane and ram it into a building, we've also starved all those children too.

Sometimes I wonder if people really think like that. I understand that the US has the means to do a lot of good but no matter what we as a country do, someone isn't going to like it. They might not like how we do it, why we do it, or think that we did too much or maybe too little. I just don't see anyone else trying to do anything but point fingers. As a little girl I always wondered why I was born in America and not in China or the Czech Republic or Africa. I was eventually convinced that I found myself in the land of the free because I was meant to use my position of fortune to bring others similar opportunities to make an impact. I still believe that and I desperately wish others recognized their gainful positions as an opportunity to make a difference. Maybe I am being too optimistic but I really hope not.