A few weeks ago Western Mass was hit by tornadoes. Many people have been left with destroyed property and injury. <rant> These natural disasters always point my mind towards previous disasters, such as the Fukishima and Haitian earthquakes, Katrina, tsunamis in Indonesia, etc. And the outpour of humanitarian aid that pours in from the rest of the world. It feels good to know that there is this desire to help people who are suffering, but at the same time it makes me stress cynicism also. The first instance that makes my head spin are the people that say “why are we helping these people, we have plenty of unemployed here” to which I won’t even satisfy which an argument, its just sad and I’ll leave it at that. The rest are part of the same thing. There are the folk who tell everyone that every day is a blessing, and that this should serve as a reminder of how precious life is and how lucky we are. It should not take a natural disaster and thousands of life ruined for you to realize that life is precious. If you need a reminder of how lucky we are, just pick up some world news and start reading. People who can’t get clean drinking water, who live their lives under repressive dictators and theocrats, people who are dying from tuberculosis and malaria, etc. Everyday we have like this is a gift, and we need to stop bitching about our made up problems. </rant>