I give you David Frum here and more David Frum here.
And an editorial from the Washington Post from Jan. 3 entitled "Haphazard Charity".
What's missing from the WaPo editorial, not surprisingly, is the crucial ingredient for creating wealth: freedom. We can't just throw money at poor nations, we have to encourage them to become free.
One last thing to consider on the topic of our own attachments and the demands of personal charity, meaning self-sacrificing love, not govermental largesse. In his days as student St. Dominic sold his greatly treasured religious books inscribed on parchment and gave the money to the poor. "I could not bear to prize dead skins when living skins were starving and in need," he said.
There are many of us in Canada who love Mr. Frum, the Canadian.
I'm not a carping Democrat. So I didn't take notice of Clinton's self-indulgence. Mea culpa. Anyhow, this tragedy happened so suddenly and so visibly that it's harder to ignore than strife in Bosnia, Rwanda, or Sudan. I don't want those suffering people ignored either, but can understand if most folks are un- or ill-informed about them.