Nothing like severe natural disaster to put things in perspective. I don’t mean in just the sense of making one’s own problems seem small, but in being reminded of the ways the current system contributes to the scale of disasters. If there was ever a good reason to chip in to the causes of alleviating needless poverty and increasing accountability in business and government, Haiti is it.
This is just one of the few times that some government officials have had to eat a little of the shite they helped to pile on the heads of the poor. It’s a shame that the poor had to suffer too, as well as some who were helping them, but at least this time there was some Matthew 5:45 effect in that the rain did indeed fall on the just and the unjust this time.
Having lain in a pool of my own blood at one time, and been close to that at others, I know what it’s like to be okay with the end. Having never sought to harm anyone without due cause at such a moment is, despite the circumstances, a pretty nice feeling. It makes the pain seem more like a passage. If it’s the end then so be it, but you keep breathing…focus your energy on drawing on breath at a time, because you’ve still got good stuff to do. I’d really hate to come to that moment as a parasite on the arse of the world. I wonder if they’d even learn anything from such an experience.
So far, it’s just a straight up nightmare there. According to the Telegraph, the death toll could reach 200,000. Streets are piled with bodies, and people are rioting because of the slow delivery of food, water, health care, and rescue. Part of the problem is that there isn’t even enough space or security at the airport. Since long, the situations at the sea ports has been bad. Food was rotting on the ships because of corruption. It was like they were keeping the poor starving on purpose. Artificial inflation kept food prices rising for no good reason.
…and now this. I hope it causes a revolution. Until then though, I hope it puts a big magnifying glass up for the world to get a good look at what happens when you keep people down for so long, and then something happens that even the government can’t anticipate or insulate themselves from, and the rich can’t buy their way out of.
None of us is immune from Nature. You can beat the system, and beat a slave, but you can’t beat the Earth.
I don’t know…I hope people learn from this. I’m not holding my breath though. If people with money understood the basic principles of life, they wouldn’t be so exploitive, and probably wouldn’t have as much money. Maybe that’s just one of those “nature of the beast” things. I suppose all those who don’t have so much money can do against their greed in the meantime is find ways around it. Whoever can, should be prepared for the parasite based infrastructure to collapse in the event of a major disaster or war. If it’s possible, this should be a community effort.
Don’t rely on a system that’s only built to exploit you. If you do, then when you need help, it probably won’t be there. Not pointing fingers, because this is just about every government on earth. Some though, are worse than others, and the Haitian government was well known for its screwed upness. I can’t help seeing this event as a kind of an illustration of what can happen elsewhere.
