Natural disasters – like earthquakes – should always remind us that there but for the grace of God… But there’s no denying that living in a relatively rich country increases one’s chance of surviving such disasters tremendously…
It’s bad enough that accident of birth can consign one to a life of chronic poverty. It just seems unfair that even the wrath of Mother Nature affects the poor so disproportionately.
(Killer earthquakes: First Haiti, now Chile, The iPINIONS Journal, March 2, 2010)
Yesterday a 6.3 magnitude quake hit the historic city of Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 75, destroying hundreds of buildings, and trapping dozens more under rubble. Emergency crews from the United States and other countries have rushed in to help with the search and rescue efforts.
The equality of all human life should compel us to regard all such tragedies with equal sympathy. But as my opening quote indicates, we invariably show less sympathy and render even less support when natural disasters befall relatively rich countries like New Zealand than we do when they befall poor ones like Haiti.
The primary reason for this of course is twofold: natural disasters always come as an insult to the injury of chronic poverty and other privations that constitute daily life in poor countries; and rich countries always have more resources to recover and rebuild.
But there’s also the crude fact that the tragedy of the hundreds who may have died in New Zealand cannot compare with that of the hundreds of thousands who died in Haiti. On top of that, international media focus on the democratic revolution unfolding in Libya will make it seem as though we care less about the fate of New Zealanders than we actually do.
Nevertheless, I am mindful that they will grieve their loss just as intensely as Haitians did.
We may be witnessing New Zealand’s darkest day.
(Prime Minister John Key, London Telegraph, February 22, 2011)
Accordingly, I hereby convey my deep sympathy to all directly affected by this quake, as well as to all New Zealanders as their country moves from rescue and recovery to rehabilitation and rebuilding in the days, months and years ahead.
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Killer earthquakes…