Is the guy cool for doing this or what??

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"Dear Hernan

I remember you very well, as well as other moments experienced in Chile. Chilean audiences, to whom I gave my show, are not comparable to any other.

What a terrible disaster for Chile.

I can send money, and I will. Let me know the best ways to collaborate. Perhaps on a personal or local level? Or a cheque to the largest institution?

This is no joke... and not trying to be cruel, but if this earthquake had occurred just before Haiti's...

Not all, but many Americans have seen telethons hosted by celebrities to raise funds and now have "earthquake fatigue." Not that I blame them, they do their best, but I think disaster relief should not be an issue for charities and individuals. It should be a global obligation.

Why isn't there a special global fund set aside to fulfill the basic needs of humanity when dealing with major disasters?

I venture to suggest that the answer is simple.

FEAR!

The US spends 40% of the taxes levied on its citizens in defense (weapons). Over $1 trillion per year. Why?

Why are you afraid of Saddam Hussein? Or Hugo Ch??vez? Or North Korea? Or France? Or Mexico? Or Nicaragua? Or Iran? Or Canada? Or Russia? Sorry, not Russia, they are now our friends. Or China? Oops, sorry again...

Anyway, I guess now you understand my point.

I heard that the cost of aid to rebuild your wonderful country is about $15 billion dollars, or 1.5% of the defense budget of the US. Approximately 0.75% of the entire combined defense budget of all nations.

Imagine a world in which we use common sense much more to give and deliver...

We'll have more joy to build than to destroy....

More pleasure in loving than hating...

But unfortunately... FEAR has an ally, GREED.

The fortunes made from the arms industry in developed nations defy belief.

We the people, foment wars through our acceptance of the doctrine that Dwight D Eisenhower called "the military industrial complex".

Of course it is not his idea but his advisers that wrote his speeches!

However, he also said: "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who are hungry and are not fed, those who are cold and are not sheltered".

There are many thousands now in Chile who are hungry and are not fed, and many who are cold and are not sheltered.

We, the people, ordinary people, are the ones who stole this from them all.

Your friend,
Roger Waters.

P.S. Where do I send the funds?"

I agree with some of the letter