Fragility

Like so many of us this morning, I’ve been watching the horrible news from Japan, and of course it brings home how precarious is our hold on life, how thin the veneer of safety.   I visited Japan a few years ago, flew into Osaka and then took the Shinkansen train and a bus to the southernmost island where my son and his partner were teaching.  I’m glad they’re in relatively safe Halifax now; though it seems southern Japan wasn’t affected directly this time.  Still, a disaster like this affects everyone eventually in one way or another.

Japan seems as if it’s one of the most prepared countries as far as this kind of event, for example, with changes years ago in their construction methods so that buildings sway instead of crack.  Still, I guess when the earth shakes that hard and then a tsunami inundates, there’s not a lot you can do.  Millions of people will be homeless, without power.  Others will be dead or injured.  Given what’s happened in other recent major disasters, I’m sure people will send whatever help they can, but it’s going to be a long road to Japan’s recovery.

It seems to me that globally we’re not nearly efficient enough at dealing with catastrophes.  There is something called Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (google it) and something else called Relief Web.  Still, when I reflect back on what did and didn’t happen in Haiti (and still isn’t) I can’t help but think we’re just not coordinated enough as far as getting help to the people who need it.

Makes me think of all the money we waste on wars and weapons that we could be spending on solving other problems.  We have amazing technology, people with all kinds of skills.  With so many people in Haiti still homeless why hasn’t more debris been cleared away (couldn’t countries send  trucks and bulldozers), and some of those empty shipping containers littering various landscapes been used for housing?  There could be better disaster data bases coordinating supplies, agencies, and people with skills all over the world.  Navy ships could be outfitted as floating medical facilities instead of carrying armaments.  We need engineers, medics, and builders instead of soldiers.

Then there’s those burning oil refineries and the iffy nuclear reactors.  More reasons for investing in green technology.  I could go on ranting, but I won’t.