I will admit, as the years have passed and as the US has continued to provide to other countries while we struggle to recover from the financial tsunami and other devastating events that we have faced, I have been tempted to become more of an isolationist. Then I am reminded, by my conscience and my colleagues, that we reach out and extend the helping hand because despite our own looming problems—financial ruin, unemployment, and homelessness—we are resilient, and the world looks to us as the “safety net.” Good, bad, or indifferent, we help because we can.
Yet, I wonder, can we respond better? And if another natural disaster hits the US, have we learned what not to do from the Haiti tragedy? Will we be ready to help ourselves?