What we can learn from Katrina
Reading about the conditions of refugees in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it's hard to believe this is happening in the richest, most powerful country in the world. Americans and the rest of the world should think long and hard about how we might have contributed towards disasters such as this - I'm referring to greenhouse gas emissions and other human factors associated with global warming. I'm no tree hugger and while radical environmental groups like Greenpeace annoy me very much, I am more irked by the attitude of right wing policy makers in bed with corporations who refuse to even consider that our continued disregard for the environment can be responsible for freaks of nature like Katrina. In the words of a newspaper in Taiwan: New Orleans may go down in history as the first major city in an advanced country to be lost to the process of global warming... We sincerely hope that the Bush administration will take the call from Hurricane Katrina and reconsider its energy and environmental policies and replace ostrich-like escapism with leadership in the global effort to deal with the crisis of global climatic change.
We lamented the looting, thuggery and unrest that ensued in Iraq when the US invaded, shaking our heads at how the cradle of civilization had so quickly degenerated into lawlessness. It appears from what's happening in New Orleans that the human race is not much different this side of the world. I used to think that Hobbes' state of nature was an exaggerated abstraction of how human beings would behave in the absence of law and authority; I don't think he was that far off anymore.
Speaking of authority, the US government is under fire for what is being perceived as a 'national disgrace'. Slate asks, calling the Bush administration 'staggeringly ineffectual' in its response:How is it possible that with the fourth anniversary of 9/11 almost upon us, the federal government doesn't have in hand the capability to prepare for and then manage a large urban disaster, natural or man-made? In terms of the challenge to government, there is little difference between a terrorist attack that wounds many people and renders a significant portion of a city uninhabitable, and the fallout this week from the failure of one of New Orleans' major levees.
If democracy includes accountability, I hope the Americans are brave enough to hold their government accountable for such failures.
Updated, 2:45 PM: Came across an interesting op-ed in Washington Post that discusses government accountability in the wake of Katrina.
4 comments:
i absolutely agree with you that Katrina is the result of climatic change due to greenhouse gas emissions, etc.
i would also say (as i stated in a post on my blog) that this natural disaster is also due to the the injustices caused by the American government all over the world. And American civilians are not exempt because the vast majority of them sit by while their government bloodies its hands all over the world, some even support it.
This is truly the azhaab of Allah upon them.
Omair, isn't it somewhat presumptuous to say that a natural disaster is the wrath of God on a particular nation or people. While I agree that the devastation of this hurricane would have been significantly lessened had the Bush administration supported better environmental policies, and continued to fund support systems for the levees and pumps rather than diverting most funds to the so-called war on terror, even I find it hard to believe that the hurricane came about because of the injustices that the Americans have engaged in. If we say this about Hurricane Katrina, what are we to say about the Tsunami of December, which killed 250,000 people, in, dare I say it, a part of the world dominated by muslims? Have we so quickly forgotten about the tsunami? I just think any religious person should think twice before declaring it to be God's punishment on a certain country or people.
I'm inclined to agree with Peter. I don't think Muslims (or followers of any other religion) should equate natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina with God's punishment.
It is true, as you said in your post Omair, that God does not do anything in spite or in vain, but it's not up to us to judge God's purpose for doing something. Note: events we learn of through scripture, like Noah's flood or the plagues of Egypt are different because there God is telling us directly what his purpose was (assuming one believes in the Quran or Bible).
Ok..... but if not the wrath of God, then what?
If God does everything for a purpose, then what was His purpose behind the tsunami and hurricane?
Would He simply destroy a people because He can?
If God is just, then some sort of justice had to be served by the tsunami and hurricane.
Perhaps it is the punishment of God, or perhaps it is a test and lesson for the rest of us: How do we respond when we see other people in distress and in need?
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