Letter: Our huge appetites blind us to suffering of others

Posted 2/8/19

To the editor:

I can’t imagine how much money Disney Inc. makes per day. But I do know that Disney World pulls in around $75 million a day. And that makes me think about how we as a country …

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Letter: Our huge appetites blind us to suffering of others

Posted

To the editor:

I can’t imagine how much money Disney Inc. makes per day. But I do know that Disney World pulls in around $75 million a day. And that makes me think about how we as a country believe we can have a relevant voice in the world-wide phenomenon of hunger, displacement, war, immigration, global warming etc. How is it that we don’t get why so many people are driven to seek a 1st world country for their salvation. And why do we seem to support only the people that can walk here.

Think about it. Americans spend enough money every year on our shoes, cosmetics and our pets, around $300 billion, to rebuild the entire infrastructure of Central America, twice. All the jobs, the opportunities, and a chance for a people! And what will remain in that place if all the people with the courage to take that journey to freedom are gone.

You ever think of skipping the shopping trip, the big screen TV and putting that money into a fund that would make a difference to a people, an environment, a life. What is within us that we believe we have the right to sit in judgement of a policy, a law an ideal when we treat our illegal drug store to the south like some sterile wasteland that deserves our sympathy but not our care.

Would you give up the Super Bowl if it made a difference. Would you drive a basic car, live in basic home if you could still have the chance to succeed? Could you lose the shoes, the golf trips, all the excess to save a society? Could you stop fawning over the greed that is professional sports, that twisted search fame and wealth. Would you shun them to make a difference? Could you?

I think not. So instead of booking your next vacation to Disney World, you should think of spending a week in Cabrini Green in Chicago or a nice weekend in The South Bronx, or West Philly. Spend you tourist dollars in Hobbs, New Mexico, or Wyoming, Rhode Island and make a difference.

I just don’t get it. How do you care and still not give a damn? When is enough, enough? How do you explain your actions, your lifestyle and your wants when it comes down to your politics? It’s simple. The peoples to our south deserve to live in the home, in the town, in the district, in the country of their birth. Why are we not fighting for that?

Mark Page

Little Compton

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Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.