Fmr. Pres. Carter says Americans generally oblivious to suffering elsewher

[kskiska]

Former President Carter says Americans generally oblivious to suffering elsewhere in the world

NORTHFIELD, MINN. -- Former President Jimmy Carter delivered a Saturday sermon to a standing-room-only crowd at St. Olaf College, condemning the American people as much as their leaders for what he called their indifference to the disease and despair that prevail in much of the developing world.

"It's a different world from ours," he said. "And we don't really care what happens to them."

The winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize was in Minnesota as the centerpiece of the two-day 16th annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum.

He was greeted with foot-stomping rapture, applauded not only in the college's Skoglund Center gymnasium but again in the lobby by audience members who disobeyed a request and sneaked outside to watch him be escorted to his car.

Carter, who was just back from Africa, joked that Minnesota is similar to Oslo, Norway, in that even the gospel choirs seem to be mostly white. He answered a question about how to deal with the polarization of American politics by playfully asking the college president for permission to be "biased," then saying, "Vote Democratic!" -- an exhortation that drew an enthusiastic response.

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http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4622074.html

[KissMyAsscroft]

1. I dont think thatsa uniquely American phenomenon...

People of one country generally don't care about other countries.

[dutchdemocrat]

2. Cultural Myopia

Bullshit.

Only people like you.

[MrSoundAndVision]

8. bahahaha

very good. I thought I was the only angry DUer.

[KissMyAsscroft]

23. if you were correct...

than Africa would probably be receiving a bit more aid than they are from other countries.

I have traveled the world, and to say that not giving a rats ass about suffering in far away lands is purely an American phenomona is pure ignorance.

I personally care about suffering of other people, but for Carter to pin it on Americans is ridiculous and doesn't help his cause.

I agree that America has a lot of work to do but I'm not a member of the "blame merica first" crowd.

[tkmorris]

5. I disagree

While that sort of apathy is indeed a human trait I think the problem is far worse among Americans than amongst most other nationalities.

We are the giant gorilla in the zoo. There are people in this country that firmly believe that military superiority means never having to say you're sorry. Many Americans seem to feel as if we don't need anyone else in the world, and praise jeebus for that.

[GreenArrow]

11. "we'll stick a boot up your ass

it's the American Way."

-- Toby Keith

[Just Me]

26. A corporate dictatorship has evolved which hides reality from Americans.

The American people really are kinda' like a caged gorilla that has adapted to its imprisoned environment. They just don't know it.

I suppose that is why the movie "Matrix" was such a hit. Neo had a sense, as do the American people, that there was something amiss and was searching for the truth. "The Truth" is hard to digest.

Step by step,...

Americans are certainly empathic and compassionate people. As they discover what is happening,...and I am confident they are making such discoveries,...positive changes will evolve. This is the age of awareness, an age that is very difficult.

[chasqui]

29. Why else do you think there is an irrational fear of the 3rd world?

Half of the reason diseases in foreign lands are trumpeted to the extent that they are is to make us feel safe in our coccoon. The world out there is a big scary place, so you have to be happy to live in safe, warm, mom & apple pie US of A.

[dArKeR]

6. Sort of yes it is. Most other better off countries' citizens' actually

travel to many foreign countries and see the conditions themselves and thus can empathize. I can't remember the exact facts but something like 95% of Americans don't even have a passport so you can immediately write off that percent as have never seen it first hand.

I've seen it. And AWOL's model for all countries to follow, the Philippines, is a den of child prostitution, next to Arroyos Palace. Let's ask Mr. Carter who's palace more deserved to be bombed, Saddam's or Arroyo's?

How many children was Neil Bush with while in Asia?

----------previous post-----------
Isn't this sweet. You've got Whore Arroyo, KMT/Pan Blue Whore Pigs, child prostituion rampant in the PI, the PI economy is a Whore of a showing before/since Marcos was overthrownand, and Bush declaring the PI the 'model for Asia to follow' on his run away from the White House when the WMD story was breaking.

How many American Media Whores are going pick up on all of these facts? Fineman and Russert belong in Guantanamo Bay!


Bush Cites Philippines as Model in Rebuilding Iraq
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/19/international/asia/19PREX.html?ex=10 ...

[shanti]

14. and most americans don't prefer to

visit "third world" countries. having to witness the poverty is too much for them.

[donco6]

17. Maybe not, but countries I'm familiar with . . .

. . . at least "know" about the other situations in the world. We seem to relish our ignorance here.

You can pick up any paper in Frankfurt, for example, and read about other countries RIGHT ON THE FRONT PAGE, instead of reading about the latest sex/murder/drug/politics scandal.

[JoFerret]

25. But we have a worse case

without question. We donate less - as individuals and as a nation - that other developed nations and historically tend to live in a bit of a bubble. I see it not as an anti-American statement but it speaks to a lack of leadership. Carter deserves credit for pointing out the obvious. The question is not blame etc. but what we can do going forward and in our own self-interest as a member of a shrinking world community.

[BiggJawn]

3. News flash for Jimmy...

The Murkan Sheeple are generally oblivious to EVERYTHING except their furkin' cable shows, WWE, and that sport where they drive cars with skins that look like what we drive....

Oh, I almost forgot. Greasy burgers and all-you-can-stuff buffets, too.

[PaveThePlanet]

28. Wow...talk about an over-generalization!!

It must suck to have that outlook. Seriously, what do you have to live for?

[BiggJawn]

30. Yes it does suck. Thanks for noticing.

What do I have to live for, you ask? An obsessive curiousity to see just exactly WHAT kind of stupid thing is gonna come down the pike NEXT.

Of course, with the Unamed One announcing he's gonna try to push Bush back into the WH today, that's gonna be a pretty hard act to top, dontcha think?

You don't live in the US, do you? Or do you live in Minneapolis or Seattle?

[Gman]

4. There are a lot of compassionate people in this country

and they're not Republicans. The RW is oblivious but they also really don't care. They feel these third world countries owe the US perpetual loyalty for the few scraps we may throw their way.

[jsw_81]

7. Carter's right

There's an old joke about how if you speak three languages, you're trilingual, if you can speak two, you're bilingual, and if you can speak only one, you're American. Sadly, it's true.

Most Americans -- especially those living in rural "red" states -- don't have a clue about the rest of the world. They have no clue that 25,000+ starve to death each day, they haven't the foggiest idea of how their insane "pro-life" policies affect developing countries, and they buy into all kinds of bizarre conspiracy theories about how China is supposedly building a military base in Mexico and how them evil Yurripeans are trying to take our guns away and force our kids to become godless bisexual drug addicts who eat donuts with a knife and fork. This is why we see so much irrational hostility toward the United Nations (e.g. "Freedom Fries") and any kind of diversity in rural America.

This widespread American ignorance is one of the main reasons I'm supporting John Kerry. Unlike Bush (who didn't even travel abroad until he was in his forties and who can't find Canada on a globe without Cheney's assistance), Kerry has seen the world, speaks several languages, and understands why it's so crucial to work with our global partners instead of treating them like errant children. And Senator Kerry's wife, Teresa, will be the most cosmopolitan first lady in American history; this is a woman who grew up in Africa, speaks five languages, and once worked as a translator. If anyone can clean up the mess Bush has made over the last three years, it's Kerry.

[drthais]

9. other countries?????

of course Carter is right
but just look in your own backyard!

thousands of children are going hungry right here!
and are cold, and are sick....etc etc

how many of you have volunteered lately
at a local food pantry or shelter?

It's not that I feel LESS for those in other countries
but there is so much to do right here

[shanti]

15. love the bumper sticker

where did you find it?

[donco6]

18. And in schools, too.

We have kids who don't qualify for free/reduced lunch (I think they're illegals, but they just look like kids to me.)

Anyway, they don't have money for lunch. We feed them anyway. What else can we do?

[Vogon_Glory]

21. Apathy Towards International Poverty Fed By The Right

I believe that Jimmy Carter is right--most Americans are apathetic towards what happens in other countries and are indifferent towards the suffering other people go through.

I firmly believe that one of the reasons for this apathy is the right wing's myth-making. The right wing has tirelessly worked to discredit the idea of US government assistance towards the world's less-fortunate since the 1950's, and they have succeeded mightily. The US gives far less foreign aid as a the percentage of government income than many other countries, and all too much of that has been to foreign military and security apparatii, and not the people who need it.

What's even more appalling is that most Americans don't know this and they assume that foreign aid must rival spending for the Pentagon. In fact, they clamber not for more foreign aid spending, but for more foreign aid cuts.

I'll admit I'm sloppy about Bible reading. But I have strong reason to believe that the Son of Man had a lot less sympathy for the selfish than He did for fornicators and adulterers. The sanctimonious stain-seeking neo-Pharisees who invoke their God had better hope and pray that He isn't as Old Testament as they claim He is. To claim divine justification for policies stiffing the poor and weak and helpless is asking for Divine retribution.

[glarius]

10. Can I point out something you Americans can be proud of?

This is not speaking to the subject here, but I often read postings in this forum from Americans saying how disgusted they are by their president and how they are ashamed to be American....Well you can certainly be proud of that wonderful man, Jimmy Carter....His inner goodness shines through in his face and he is loved by the whole world....Sometimes you seem rather pessimistic...... and that's all I wanted to say....:loveya:

[shanti]

16. jimmy carter has lived his life

as an example of unselfishness and public service. he's my favorite ex-president. i love what he did for the africans and the guinea worm problem. look it up - you will too...

[donco6]

19. Hear hear

I think Jimmy Carter is the best example of a Christian I've ever seen. If they were all like that, well, I could possibly be persuaded. . .

[pink_poodle]

12. Gee, ya think? At what point did this revelation finally sink...........

in? And he is one of the good guys! He must be the first American in history to finally see what the rest of the world sees.

[shanti]

13. jimmy, you are right on

americans ARE GENERALLY self-centered people. look how americans numb themselves each day.

[indepat]

20. That Americans are generally oblivious to suffering elsewhere is an

indictment in general of the people of our nation, but especially of all those enraptured by our military ventures and successes, our ruthless efficiency in inflicting death, horrific injury, and destruction to other people/their infrastructure with our sophisticated multi-trillion dollar weaponry. The fact that maybe most Americans still support our pre-emptive war against Iraq in the absence of imminent threat as required by our Constitution gives credence to President Carter's "And we really don't care what happens to them." Maybe those of the religious right who support the needless killing and maiming of others in the absence of imminent threat might wish to pray that their God is not just for they might not like their just desserts.

[dawn]

22. Uh...yeah.

(Before reading this: I know that not all people here think this way. I don't like generalizations, but this is something I've noticed amoing casual conversations with people. And yes, I know that many people here in the U.S. don't even care about the suffering in their own country.)

A large portion of people don't only not care about the suffering on other countries, they don't care about what's going on in those countries AT ALL.

I like to travel overseas and I remember when I was going to visit Thailand last year, most people were like, "uh...why?" Some were even trying to convince me to just take a vacation here in the U.S. I couldn't believe the lack of interest in other cultures.

So of course, why would they care about the suffering in other countries?

I don't think all countries are like this. Europeans and Australians travel more, and are also interested in other cultures. I also found a high interest amoing Europeans and Aussies about volunteering on other countries, and aid work as a career. Of course, many people here go into the Peace Corps as well.

[Malva Zebrina]

24. way to go Jimmy

we are only going through here once

You have proved that it is important to give as much as yourself to others as you can. It does not take a damn thing away from you or off your shelf . I will bet that you noticed nothing off your shelf that caused you to go hungry and did not suffer the least bit if a few of those items were given to those who were suffering and anxious about thier food supply.


Not that your beliefs indicate that you will be rewarded in an after life for racking up some sort of points because you were concerned about others not as fortunate as yourself, but because you have genuinly believed that by helping others, you strengthen yourself, thus being able to give the surplus good feelings and good will to those who would need it to survive.

There are a lot of those around in the United States.

Never have I ever heard George Bush willingly donate some substanstial amount of his great money, to help these people get a meal and a bed out of the cold and weather.

[tigereye]

27. I think many Americans are in denial about the state of the world

but not all. There are many folks of different political persuasions who pay attention to suffering in other parts of the world, many of them non-right religious and political organizations ( and individuals as well) who organize food and medicine drops, etc., in Haiti, in South America and in countries where there are limited medical facilities and medicines. I realize that the media tends to downplay some dire, or even normal conditions in developing nations, but I find it hard to believe that so many Americans are unaware of the privileged situation in which they find themselves versus that of most of the world, given the sweep of American and global media.

I think part of the problem is that many folks are so overwhekmed with the day to day chaos and financial difficulties of their own lives here, that it is easy to forget to be thankful for what we have and try to extend that bounty to others.