They say the huge Hurricane Katrina that ravaged Louisiana, USA, will have left 10,000 dead in its wake, making it the single worst disaster in US history. However, there notable sociopolitical factors that make the situation such that you cannot call it simply a natural disaster. There are aspects of what happened that need to be looked at carefully so that lessons can be learned.
After the "home of jazz" was submerged in water it was overtaken with continued looting, violence, and anarchy that made you doubt your eyes. Where were no small riots or cases of looting after the tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people in South Asia last year. American society needs some painful reflection on the reason why most of those who died were black and the reason most of the blacks who live in low-lying areas ignored warnings to evacuate, because it reflects dormant racial and economic discrimination. Criticism that the response was late or where was not ample preparation is what you'd expect to hear about Third World countries. Any way you look at it, this is not what the world's richest nation, the only superpower, should look like.
It is also unusual to have the international community providing various forms of assistance while still being cold to the Bush Administration. People are cynical about an administration that neglects serious domestic conflict factors while having illegally invaded and occupied Iraq. Hurricane frequency is known to be related to global warming, and the way the Bush Administration has been passive about the problem is something else creating distance with the international community. The way Bush has spent more effort on expanding America's political and military strength instead of fighting global poverty is viewed in the same context.
The situation shows you how natural disasters can be vastly amplified by human factors. Now is the season when Korea experiences repeated typhoons. We have to be prepared in diverse ways so that the tragedy of New Orleans is not replayed here.
The Hankyoreh, 5 September 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] The Lesson of New Orleans |
