The Unfairness of it All

Huston, Texas got walloped by one heck of a storm. Not only were there winds strong enough to rip roofs off of houses, but it rained and rained - in some areas over 1.25 metres of water fell. There has been wide spread destruction of property, thousands have been left homeless for the foreseeable future and at least  20 people have died as a direct result of Hurricane Harvey. Without any doubt the effects of the hurricane on the residents of Huston has been devastating. If the USA's response to Hurricane Katrina is any example - it may be a generation before some of the damages are repaired. For some, their lives may be shattered forever. BUT the USA has the capacity to assist Huston and its residents to recover. If the politicians, the bureaucrats and the voting public choose to - the full resources of the American Armed Forces, of the various  emergency organizations and numerous not-for-profit organization could both significantly ease the suffering of individuals and contribute to the quick rebuilding of the city's infrastructure. The United States has the capacity to do it all - quickly and without a lot of outside help. They could also do much to prevent future crisis by ensuring that the drainage systems were functional and had the capacity to deal with extraordinary amounts of rain and that developers were not allowed to build housing on swamps or flood plains.

But the good people of Huston are not the only ones who have experienced too much rain. In Bangladesh - 7.1 million people, in Nepal approximately 1.5 million and in India nearly 14 million have been affected by flooding (Red Cross). The death toll in these countries may be in the thousands. The sad fact is that these countries are far less able to, in the short term, provide relief to the victims of the flooding. They are even less able to develop the kinds of long term strategies that will ensure less flooding in the future. There seems to be some sort of cosmic rule that natural disasters are worse and therefore have a far greater impact upon those countries who have the least capacity to deal with them. It also seems to be the rule that if we cannot relate to the people affected by the disaster, our capacity to care is reduced.

I perhaps should not be surprised that there is so little news as to what is happening in India, Nepal or Bangladesh. On CBC's website this morning ,there were seven stories about Huston - there were none about Bangladesh. I understand the USA are our neighbours and that it is natural for us to be more concerned about them than people who live nearly halfway around the world. I also understand that it is easier to relate to the suffering of people whose lives somewhat resemble ours. But it would seem to me that the news media have some responsibility to at least present to us the stories from other parts of the world - I may chose to not read that story - but at least give me the chance to make that choice.

Whether we like it or not we live a global world. No longer are we isolated by oceans that cannot be crossed safely, no longer can we remain ignorant as to what is happening to millions and millions of people. People keep on saying that we are all connected, that the internet allows us to share information, stories about people's lives that make us feel as if we are all part of the same human family. Someone needs to start telling more of those stories  and a lot more loudly. Our brothers and sisters in India, Nepal or Bangladesh need our assistance and if you are so inclined - our prayers.