The world has become global so a disaster like this is now in your face and whether you like it or not we are connected.
Remember the sick feeling we all must have felt when the tsunami struck on Boxing day? Kind of put things into perspective.
It's not as though we weren't aware of the plight of many in this poor country. Jared Diamond wrote clearly in his book Collapse about the poverty and corruption they face. A disaster like this has made it transparent and now it is a gaping wound for all of us to stare at, not just the rich on their luxury liners.
And as for tourists feeding local incomes, nothing on earth could buy a place on a lifeboat as the Titanic sank. Haitians are now dying and will kill for food and water. That is the crime here. Whilst people are in desperate need of the very basics, money cannot help, its food. water, a roof over their heads, sanitation and communications that are required.
And this ship has plenty of all these things. It's wrong just to say that a trickle of money will help at all. How does it look to desperate locals when they look over the fence and the decadent rich?
Original article that set me off:
No comments:
Post a Comment