That Wonderful Global Community

"Progressive" dreams usually involve lavishly funded projects, government departments, or NGOs, charged with bringing utopia to the world. "Progressive" realities, involve lavishly funded projects, government departments, or NGOs, which deliver little change ... least of all the utopia that "progressive" ideology is built on:

First there was the Burmese cyclone, now we have the Chinese earthquake. What do these events have in common? Yes, they are likely to result in many deaths and no, we are not going to know how many for a long time, if ever. But that is something they share with the far greater disaster of the tsunami two and a half years ago.There is something else they have in common - the sight of the international community standing by helplessly, wringing its hands and being unable to help. We are witnessing hysterical outbursts from Oxfam and a certain amount of temporary smugness from the Red Cross.

More, from The Broom:

Last week France suggested invoking a U.N. responsibility to protect clause to deliver aid directly to cyclone-hit Burma without waiting for approval from the Burmese government and Canada looks to be following their lead to force aid to the Burmese people:

[...]

It sounds like a great move but sadly it may only be just symbolic. The responsibility to protect has been 'invoked' in Burma (also in Darfur) a number of times before in response to human rights violations and nothing has ever been done.