09 dezembro 2002

ECO-TERRORES
Just Money: Tragedy, particularly American tragedy, is always and inevitably about the money. As much as we rail against this and insist that it is not true, as much as we would prefer to talk about love and honor and legacy, in the end we find our talk turning to dollars. We do this in part because we need to eat, and to pay the rent, and to continue on with our lives in the face of death. We also do this because cash is the only tangible way to measure infinite loss. [...]
But around the country -- where as a rule we like to shower victims with charity and then criticize them when they accept it -- people are asking. ''I am very bothered by what I perceive as greedy people when it comes to the distribution of funds to the victims of Sept. 11,'' reads a comment posted on the Victim Compensation Fund's Web site. Another reads: ''What about the victims of Oklahoma City, the U.S.S. Cole and the embassies in Africa?''