I’m disgusted. Pissed off. Angry.
Why?
Because of an e-mail I received this week alleging that while American car companies have donated millions of dollars in money and equipment to disaster relief to the victims of the 9/11 attacks, foreign companies have failed to back up their sympathetic words with donations. It’s simply not true (you can read my debunking in the hoaxes section.)
Now I do not feel that foreign — or even American — companies are morally obligated to help recover the victims recover from the assaults. I do think that helping, however, is the natural response when you see someone who shares your values brutally attacked. It’s an act of benevolence — of respect for shared values. And it makes me nauseous when people spread lies in an effort to promote their own xenophobic agendas. (or, if you’re feeling particularly conspiratorial, to forge an e-mail that makes it look like Americans are xenophobic…but we’ll probably never know who sent it. My guess is the former scenario rather than the later would prove true.)
Foreign companies have shown tremendous benevolence toward America and the victims slain in the cowardly attacks. And that’s not surprising, because this wasn’t just an attack on America — plenty of foreign nationals died in those attacks.
As an American — as a civilized human being — I want to thank the foreign and domestic companies that have helped those affected by the attacks. And to those who wrote the letter, all I can say is this: the truth matters … and you don’t.