Cyclones, Earthquakes, Bombings: A Bad Month for Asia
May 13th, 2008[Posted by S.I.] The following is a decidedly melancholy stream-of-consciousness rant on recent events in Asia:
Terrible couple of weeks for large swaths of Asia, from the South to the East to the Southeast. Whether it was Cyclone Nargis bludgeoning Burma (though perhaps the ruling military junta’s indignant stance is the greater tragedy as her people suffer), the 7.9 magnitude quake in central China, or the terrorist attacks in Jaipur, India, this has been a devastating and shitty month for the most populous regions of the world.
As upbeat as I am, I’m a realist, and right now, I’m realistically at a loss. We’ll always be under nature’s thumb. We can build it farther away, higher or lower, stronger, and safer, and eventually she’ll find a way to break it. That’s life.
But the real toll is in the Sisyphus-esque struggle these people go through. Disaster strikes, thousands upon thousands die, access is blocked either physically or by those in power, supplies are limited, governments are incapable, people suffer, money trickles in, those in charge embezzle it or spend it foolishly, and by the time the downtrodden regain a semblance of order, it happens again.
In India’s case, this bombing will cause an outcry of uncles and aunties screaming “Bloody Pakistan!” and “Bloody Muslims!,” and a group will demand they all be deported (or worse), while a seemingly more sensible faction will say that it’s not about Muslims in general, and certainly not Indian Muslims, but rather, it’s a whole raft of causes, internal and external. There will be a few riots, some civil unrest, a few blanket statements thrown each way (like all of mine in this piece), and people will forget about it. Then it too will happen again. Just check out the comments in Sepia Mutiny’s post to see the typical back-and-forth in action (no offense, I like those guys and they do good work).
Sometimes I feel resigned to the cycle. If Buddha and the Gita had it right, life is just suffering. Is this an un-Disney circle of life? Maybe this is just how things go, and will we ever change anything unless we change everything? And what new problems will those changes bring?
Should we just go back to nature’s will, survival of the fittest, and do like the animals and worry about you and yours and that’s it? Do you not “care” unless you get worked up, donate everything to charity including the clothes off your back, and show up at the scene? Should we make it a national day of remembrance every time a tragedy occurs? Would there be any days left?
Is offing yourself the best way to help everyone out, giving back a lifetime of resources you would have used? Or do you just accept that life sucks more for some than others, but everyone has to deal with it the best they can? In that case, why give anything at all? And if you’re going to give money to anything, how can you give money to anything that doesn’t support children directly (as they are the ones who can enact change in future generations)? Isn’t giving money to animal charities insulting when there are people suffering?
It feels like we’re living in one giant Rubik’s Cube. One side gets closer to figuring it out, which pushes another side further away (or so it seems to them).
These are not normally the topics we cover on our blog; we’re generally less news based and more based on humor and experiences. But other blogs are good at this, and I recommend you follow their threads for news updates and diverse opinions. Check out our blogroll in the sidebar. And don’t worry, we’ll be back to our regularly snarky posts soon.
The ravings of a confused brown man. Lots of damn questions, very few answers.
Maybe all of you have some.
Tags: Burma, China, India, Muslim / Islam, Natural Disasters, Terrorism
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