Comments on: The white Madonna’s burden

By: Banvelos

Banvelos — Fri, 01 May 2009 22:24:31 +0000

Nice blog and thanks for the info!

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:49:54 +0000

Unforunately, her child doesn’t have a prayer of avoiding the media frenzy that will undoubtedly swarm her everywhere she goes.

By: reallygonecat

reallygonecat — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:11:23 +0000

“What conservatives call ‘white guilt’ is empathy. Since they don’t have it, they can’t recognize it”

– Susan from Texas.

By: Ivana

Ivana — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:25:56 +0000

But you, Mr.O’Neill, also speak on their behalf without being asked to. That appears to be a general white burden. Being a man of the media yourself, shouldn’t it be more appropriate (and challenging) for you to present a thorough analysis of why do media give these people so much coverage in the first place? That Madonna isn’t a most eloquent or brilliant thinker wouldn’t come as a surprise to most, but bashing her and others like her surfaces as frequently as the latest news on what they are up to. Not to mention that mocking a person for spending her own money on attempts to aleviate what she sees is a disaster is simply in bad taste.

By: Trego

Trego — Sun, 25 May 2008 14:57:49 +0000

Are you aware of who Father Trevor Huddleston is?

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 19 May 2008 10:27:16 +0000

hmmm – adopting children is taking the easy way out? I thought it was sacrificing a part of ones life to giving another person at an opportunity at a life. Now thats being a human

By: NJ

NJ — Sat, 17 May 2008 15:19:25 +0000

Adopting one child (or a dozen, or a hundred) does about as much good as plugging one tiny hole in a sieve, if you want to make the sieve hold water. Or I could use the “teaching a man to fish vs. giving him a fish” argument. To do any good at all you need to tackle the problem at its source — invest in technology, infrastructure, education, democracy. The least these celebrities could do is use their celeb status to popularize these causes. But I can’t blame them for taking the easy and cheap way out — after all they ARE doing it for the publicity, and judging by most of the comments above it’s working.

Also, when reading the article I’d hoped that these people’s love of “a life before machines” and “the cradle of life” would be met with the torrent of scathing derision it deserves, but no one even commented on that. Perhaps someday we homo sapiens will live up to the “sapiens” part of our name.

By: anna

anna — Sat, 17 May 2008 14:33:17 +0000

One thing: when Kipling wrote about “half-devil and half-child” in his poem “White Man’s Burden” he was talking about people in the Philippines, not Africa. He didn’t really say much about Africa.

By: averill

averill — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:13:57 +0000

I think it is incumbent upon us as humans to do what we can, whenever we can. Adopting a child is one of the most personal, one of the most fundamental ways to make the world a better place. One on One. The commitment should be lauded – Period. I would say if you have an empty guest bedroom, turn your empty room into an actual home for an actual child. Life goes by quickly. One could spend 5 years pondering endlessly what the proper paint color for a guest room (used once a year, perhaps?) should be, or choose to make it a home for a kid. In a few short years, they will be off and running, you have your guest rooms back – and the child will have the same room in memory as the bedroom of home. Their home. Get out there and do it. And yes, I did it -probably the best thing I will ever do with my life. And I still haven’t decided what color to paint the rooms…

By: reallygonecat

reallygonecat — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:07:31 +0000

What an ass you are. Someone is trying to help children instead of bombing them and you look down your so so enlightened nose at them. Well the world could use more Madonnas and less snotty reporters.