A Sad Tale from Greece

There was an article in a Swiss newspaper today that made me feel ill.
Truck farmers who grow onions, carrots and potatoes, near a river in a certain Greek region, learned in 2009 that the river had higher than legal levels of chrome in its waters. Of course, the vegetables from this region were taken off the market during the clean-up, which the farmers say is now over.
But, Greek consumers who would normally buy from these producers do not, if they have a choice, by virtue of having enough money to buy more expensive vegetables. So, some these vegetables are not sold.
Today, 17 tons of the produce were offered free in Athens. People, mostly retirees and older people, along with immigrants, stood in line for hours to be able to pick out a large sack full of onions, carrots and potatoes. The farmers say the produce is no longer harmful. The people waiting in line said they don't care about that.
It isn't the distribution of food that bothers me because that happens in most European countries, especially during the winter when extra calories are required by people who don't have the money to buy what they need or to heat their homes sufficiently, if they have a home.
It isn't even the possibility of offering contaminated food to people because if it's a one-time affair, chances are that there will be no harm done.
But, to think that there are people in Greece - in Europe - undoubtedly also in the United States - who don't have enough to eat is simply intolerable.
I'm not asking for the welfare state to kick in even harder. But, isn't it time to ask ourselves where and why we western nations are spending our money.
What good will it do to save starving people elsewhere in the world if we are creating the same problem in our own countries? What good will it do to save people from terrorists and tyrants if we are doing it at the cost of impoverishing our own citizens? What good will it do to pull the rest of the world up to our standard of living if it is at the cost of lowering our own, perhaps below theirs, in the next decade?
Does anyone in elected office even care anymore that they are being elected by people who desperately need help? I have to wonder. 
A lot of ink is being used to hash over the legitimate tax contributions America can ask of her top 1% of wealthy Americans. But, I find almost no discussion of what that additional tax revenues would be used for.
If it is to arm Afghans or build better fighter jets or support an International Monetary Fund that already gets its largest contribution from America, I would say that it is time to stop and think and talk.
A country is as strong as its citizens. When citizens are cast aside, made to feel redundant, forced to search for work that doesn't exist because government policies have driven the work elsewhere, told that they must participate in the "sacrifice" - when they are the sacrifice - to guns and international programs - then it is time to ask what American exceptionalism or "that shining city on the hill" has become.
And, finally, the streets will tell the tale. Cairo is not in revolution because it is Muslim. It is in revolution because its citizens were repressed and poor for longer than they could take it. When life becomes so horrible that to die in the hope of escape is better than to continue to live in despair, then the only possibility is revolt.
Americans understand this because revolt against repression formed their country. They are not immune from taking to the streets again.
When is somebody going to wake up, understand, and do something about it?
When are the Christian values Americans carry on their sleeves - politicians in election campaigns more than anyone else - going to move mountains again?