Despair
Driving today through Port-au-Prince in the glaring summer sun, there is still plenty of rubble being removed. Presumably, almost seven months after the earthquake, bodies are still being discovered.
This oil is destroying the livelihoods of so many people, not just fishermen; our economy is all connected. If our wetlands are destroyed, we will lose even more of our protection from hurricane storm surge. America needs to care because this is their coastline too! Part of what destroyed the coastline was the country's lust for oil. The oil companies cut navigational canals through the marshes to make access easier. This allowed salt water to move further inland, kill the grasses, and now the land dissolves by a football field a day and melts into the gulf. The oil will only kill the marshes faster.
The political polarization of our society has now reached a new and dangerous level.
We love a redemption story.
The profound appeal of rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-riches or the fall-from-grace-followed-by-a-spectacular-comeback is about as ingrained in our American psyche (and soul) as rooting for the underdog, generosity to those in distress, and second chances.
"Haiti believe in God," reads a friend's Google mail status.