Disaster

Alright I’ve been holding off on this for long enough (Warning: not very well thought out rant ahead)…

It’s great everyone has been hearing about the drought and subsequent famine in parts of East Africa and is feeling really bad about it. But where was that compassion and caring as refugee camps all over Africa were filling up the last few decades? Or where was the outrage as aid has been stalled, delayed, skimmed off, or misused due to poor governance and corruption for years? Where was the desire to help as lack of infrastructure, training, and high costs crippled agricultural output for as long as one can remember? These and many other factors have been building and contributed to the current situation. This wasn’t just a disaster out of nowhere, it was a tragedy building for years.

To take the moral and empathy card out of it, lets look at costs. When these things come to a head, often with the help of a natural disaster, the costs of rebuilding and aiding others is extremely large. These costs I imagine (my educated guess) would be far less than slow and steady capacity building over time. But its far more satisfying to send a big check to Red Cross or whatever cause of the month when we see the horrific images bombarding us on cable news. So to put the moral and empathy card back in there, we would do far more to help those in need with small donations or other means of support to good grassroots organizations who are truly building people’s capacity on the ground.

Let me end this little rant with a picture. Not too long back, Japan was hit by a massive earthquake and accompanying tsunami, sprinkled with potentially the worst nuclear disaster, ever. You may have heard about it. The following picture is inspiring. Shortly after this tragedy, the highly educated and historically disciplined and motivated Japanese workforce, got back to it. Empowering people to support themselves, in good times and bad. To me that’s how you battle poverty and underdevelopment.