Americans enjoy luxury at expense of many others

To the editor:

As a mother, I am increasingly concerned about where this world is headed. I used to believe Americans were intelligent and caring people. But are we really?

Can any American see give-away toys at a fast-food restaurant or cheap clothing at a discount store and not realize they were made in sweat shops? Is it possible to go to the grocery store and not think about the poor people in foreign countries who have been run off their land by the corporations that provide fruit and vegetables that we let rot on our shelves at home? And what about that trip to the gas pump these days?

People everywhere are suffering to provide Americans with undeserved luxury. Those alive today have done nothing to deserve this luxury short of being born in America. We like being consumed in materialism. It distracts us from looking down to see whom we're walking on.

It is time we educate ourselves about what is going on in the world around us and give of ourselves for the betterment of all humanity. God bless the world, not just America. It's time we shod some compassion for our fellow man. It is only by the grace of God that we were born in America and not in a hut on the other side of the world.

SHELLY GOSS

Cape Girardeau