Feb 20, 2016 3 min read

Henry Kissinger once characterized Bangladesh, the woebegone nation nestled between Myanmar and India’s eastern flank, as the world’s basket case thanks to its unfathomable poverty, political instability and tendency to fall victim to floods, cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes and just about any other natural disaster you would care to name.

What would America’s basket case be? There are corners of Appalachia that are unrelievedly grim, pockets of Mississippi submerged in destitution and crossroads in the West that have seemingly been bypassed by modernity.

And then there is Flint, Mich. Already on the ropes because of years of deindustrialization and population loss, it can be argued it has indeed officially become America’s basket case because of the ongoing crisis that has left its residents unable to drink the city’s water because of the amount of lead in it. The ramifications of this will haunt Flint for years, as it deals with children who could well experience physical and developmental deficits as a result of lead poisoning. It’s also another black eye for Flint – who would want to start a business or set up housekeeping in such a godforsaken place?

The entirely manmade disaster that has unfolded in Flint has attracted calls for aid, from celebrities to presidential candidates, and many Americans have donated money to help Flint residents. According to the Detroit Free Press, more than $405,000 has already been raised from at least 100 online campaigns.

Such generosity is uplifting, but it raises a question – isn’t it ultimately the responsibility of the government that perpetrated this crisis, on the federal, state and local levels, to make things right for Flint residents? Shouldn’t it be officials in Flint, Lansing, Michigan’s capital, and Washington, D.C., who are pulling coins out from under the couch cushions to alleviate a crisis that was largely caused by their incompetence? After all, it was Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, who has come under fierce criticism as a result of the fiasco, who said, “Government failed (Flint residents) at the federal, state and local level.”

To recap: As a cost-saving measure, Flint opted to get its municipal water from the Flint River rather than Detroit. At the same time, it didn’t add inhibitors that would have prevented the more-salty river water from corroding the city’s aged lead pipes. Almost as soon as the switch was made, residents began complaining about the water smelling and tasting terrible, but their complaints were dismissed in many quarters. It’s been widely noted if a similar sequence of events had transpired in one of the affluent and politically influential suburbs that surround Detroit, like Grosse Pointe or Bloomfield Township, the concerns of residents almost certainly wouldn’t have been so lightly brushed aside.

The cost of repairing Flint’s water infrastructure is estimated at $1.5 billion. The price tag will keep growing, thanks to increased social-service costs because of children who have been poisoned, the lawsuits that are sure to be filed and the continuing damage that is being inflicted on Flint’s reputation. There are tentative signs of a renaissance occurring in Detroit, but in Flint, just 60 miles to the north, such a rebirth is almost impossible to imagine.

No, Americans shouldn’t turn away from Flint. The needs there are real and will continue to be. But even as many of us open our wallets to help, we should remember who is responsible for this and who should really be picking up the tab.