Japanese Strength
Since I live in Alabama, it's impossible not to compare the Japanese earthquake and tsunami to the Katrina disaster in New Orleans.
So. Has there been widespread looting in Japan? Have the police loaded up shopping carts with luxury goods and electronics for their personal use? Are Japanese women being raped in the shelters? Have healthy, uninjured young Japanese people stood in groups chanting, "Help! Help!" to the news cameras?
I haven't seen that in coverage from Japan, have you? For examples of the above behavior, reference Katrina footage of New Orleans. Shameful.
During the Katrina recovery, thank goodness, there were a few interviews with tough folks who were able to take care of themselves and their families, who didn't sit around whining for help, but who immediately started to rebuild their lives as best they could. Since I have family and friends on the coast, I know that many of the residents were and are tough. Maybe personal strength just didn't make for good news stories.
Maybe the images of crime, predation, and "rescue me!" instead of "let me rescue you!" were so vivid because they were shocking, disgusting. Where did these people come from? How did the U.S. end up with so many weak individuals who expect someone else to bail them out of a bad situation instead of trying to help themselves? How is our society is teaching learned helplessness instead of self-reliance?
Yeah, I sent money and such to help Katrina victims. I want to do so much more for Japan. If I could, I would be chartering jets and undertaking my own relief efforts. It hurts not to be able to help these people who are so strong and who are suffering with such dignity.
Japan deserves profound respect for their disaster preparations (how much worse could it have been without their building codes and earthquake survival training?!) and the strength of the nation and the people. May those who are able to get there take our money and use it wisely and rapidly to bring water, food, and warmth to the Japanese people and help them help themselves - because they will come back wiser and stronger, as they always seem to do.
So. Has there been widespread looting in Japan? Have the police loaded up shopping carts with luxury goods and electronics for their personal use? Are Japanese women being raped in the shelters? Have healthy, uninjured young Japanese people stood in groups chanting, "Help! Help!" to the news cameras?
I haven't seen that in coverage from Japan, have you? For examples of the above behavior, reference Katrina footage of New Orleans. Shameful.
During the Katrina recovery, thank goodness, there were a few interviews with tough folks who were able to take care of themselves and their families, who didn't sit around whining for help, but who immediately started to rebuild their lives as best they could. Since I have family and friends on the coast, I know that many of the residents were and are tough. Maybe personal strength just didn't make for good news stories.
Maybe the images of crime, predation, and "rescue me!" instead of "let me rescue you!" were so vivid because they were shocking, disgusting. Where did these people come from? How did the U.S. end up with so many weak individuals who expect someone else to bail them out of a bad situation instead of trying to help themselves? How is our society is teaching learned helplessness instead of self-reliance?
Yeah, I sent money and such to help Katrina victims. I want to do so much more for Japan. If I could, I would be chartering jets and undertaking my own relief efforts. It hurts not to be able to help these people who are so strong and who are suffering with such dignity.
Japan deserves profound respect for their disaster preparations (how much worse could it have been without their building codes and earthquake survival training?!) and the strength of the nation and the people. May those who are able to get there take our money and use it wisely and rapidly to bring water, food, and warmth to the Japanese people and help them help themselves - because they will come back wiser and stronger, as they always seem to do.
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