"God Bless America - Whose America?"
Saturday, October 22, 2016 at 10:20PM “I settled, but admit no wrong doing”.
Not long ago, a real estate tycoon would not rent to black families. To avoid an embarrassing lawsuit, he settled, but admitted no wrong doing. Even now, he bragged it was a good business practice, no apology needed.
This month, a company which increased the price of a common, life-saving drug by more than 400% settled to avoid a lawsuit for cheating Medicaid. Its CEO smirked our elected representatives, but admitted no wrong doing.
Years ago in Viet Nam, I asked a CDC public health colleague why the US have done nothing to help the victims of Agent Orange. The answer: “We did not apologize, nor pay reparations for Hiroshima, why should we for Agent Orange?” But finally, in his recent visit to Laos, President Obama admitted mistakes done in that lost, forgotten land, where millions of bombs were dropped in a secret war some 50 years ago, and he promised funding to help clear unexploded bombs.
It takes courage, empathy and humility, those core ingredients of a moral conscience, to admit that one has done wrong. Unfortunately they are not common virtues of the powerful. Despite being a nation supposedly founded on Christian morality, we turn our eyes away from the poor and disfranchised who rot in jail for petty crimes; we burst in outrage when scandals surface, then allow profiteers with highly paid lawyers to trump our justice system and walk away, proudly “admitting no wrong doing”.
God Bless America. Which America?
Chinh Le,
(Published in the Gazette Times, October 20, 2016)
Reader Comments