Beggars banned from Western Wall

I love this quote, from Sara Yocheved Rigler:

Reacting to the Tsunami

A person stealing $100 in Tel Aviv lowers the moral fiber in Mexico City and could encourage massive embezzlement in Melbourne. Conversely, a person doing a mitzvah in Haifa may avert an auto accident in London or prevent complications during open-heart surgery in Los Angeles.

And this:

Maimonides asserts that one who fails to respond to suffering by doing teshuva is cruel. The implication is that we have it within our power to stop human suffering. How can we look at the pictures of bodies on the beaches -- each of whom is someone's beloved relative -- and not be willing to undertake whatever we can to ward off the next calamity?

And let's not forget this:

 It is in our power, by the moral choices we make, to prevent the next disaster.

I thought such nonsense had been eradicated from human thought by, say, the Enlightenment, but apparently some stupid and false ideas die harder than others.  And if we should do repentance everytime there is a tragedy, shouldn't we have been wearing sackcloth and ashes since for the entire 20th century?