Submitted by Dan Edelstein, Old Greenwich
On Feb 28, Elon Musk said on Joe Rogan’s podcast, “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.” This came at a time when he was in the midst of dismantling most of the humanitarian organizations in the US that provide life-saving services to children around the world. In the March 10 edition of the Greenwich Time, Janti Soeripto, the CEO of Save the Children US, was quoted as saying, “Millions of children will die” if those cuts aren’t restored.
Two weeks later, I called Save the Children for an update and was told that while they’re “working with the administration” to reverse those cuts, they still stand by their dire warning that millions of children around the world will die if their services aren’t restored.
So I have a question for those of you who voted for the current president, especially you who consider this country to be a “Christian nation”. Since the underlying principle of Christianity (and all religions) is the idea that we should treat people the way we’d like to be treated (that is, that we have “empathy” for them), how do these actions taken by this administration fit into that view of the world?
And here’s a question to everyone: Ms. Soeripto is warning us about an imminent genocide of children – how is it possible that this isn’t the main topic of conversation here in the Free Press and in the media generally? These are not rhetorical questions. Can someone explain this to me?
PS: As I was about to hit Send on this letter, yet another headline caught my eye; “US to end funding for childhood vaccines in poorest countries,” which the article claims will result in another 1.2 million children dying.
Which leads me to this: HEY REPUBLICANS, are you okay with this? Isn’t it time to join those of us who have been crying out against these cruel and insane measures taken by the current administration? Party loyalty is one thing, but won’t you join the rest of us and speak out against these atrocities?
Dan Edelstein, Old Greenwich