Bernstein Reading Response

#1 Richard Bernstein argues that America's tragedies are nothing like the third world countries and their disasters, but nontheless, Europeans are supporting and sending help. Bernstein asks a simple question, "why?" Why is Europe's response the way it is? He uses responses/quotes from several Europeans and European newspapers to show what the Europeans are thinking. The United States is the richest country. The fact that the Bush Administration did not go along with the "Kyoto Protocol" upset many Europeans. It shows that the U.S. must not care about their admissions and that in a way they brought the disaster onto themselves. It was also disturbing to Europeans to see gun battles, looting, and armed gangs in the midst of the wreckage, but in the third world countries, when a disaster was occuring, non of this was going on. It was bringing shame to the U.S. and it was hard to watch for Europeans. They did not know whether to contribute their time and money or not. Would it help or would it just be wasted? The Europeans say we, the Americans lack "solidarity." In times of crisis, it is incredible to see that people are still wrecking havoc in an already miserable situation.