More Bodies More Money?

At dinner tonight my daughter mentioned that one of her high school teachers had suggested the idea that the number of dead from the South Asia tsunami might be intentionally inflated to increase the amount of emergency relief money that has been pouring in.

My immediate response was, the money is not coming in to help the dead people but to help the ones who are alive. And no one needs to inflate the numbers of displaced and decimated individuals and families in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

An informative article on today's FoxNews provides insight into the confusing and contradictory numbers of dead being released by various agencies even within the same country. I find it cynical for anyone to suggest that these numbers are being artificially inflated for whatever reason. I suppose we are living in a cynical society but it's sad to think that my daughter and other high school students are being taught to think cynically about relief aid to victims of a tsunami.