The Flood
Claire Berlinski ·
Aug 20, 2010 at 5:22am
You know, I just realized there has not been a single post here--not one word, that I recall--about the flooding in Pakistan. It suddenly struck me how bizarre this is. A fifth of Pakistan is under water, the human suffering is epic; the political political implications of this are huge. It's a catastrophe of literally biblical proportions. (And as with almost all natural disasters, there's not much natural about the disaster: Blame the high death toll on corruption and bad governance, not nature.) Yet somehow this event hasn't penetrated popular consciousness in the West. Tunku Varadarajan had a good piece about it in the Daily Beast yesterday. He's quite right that we ought to pay more attention.
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Re: The Flood
I agree. I have been thinking about it a lot, actually, but no real post-worthy thoughts. However, a friend posted this chart on Facebook which shows the scope in terms we might find easier to relate to:
http://howbigreally.com/#19147
I'd never heard of this site, but it's a BBC thing, apparently, and seems to have some other cool charts that I'd explore if I had a bit more time..
Jul '10
Re: The Flood
Pakistan is hopeless. Blaming the flood on American climate manipulation? Refusing aid from India?
And once again, as with the 2004 tsunami, we see the Islamic world shrug its shoulders and prove that "charity" is restricted to the sort of giving that specifically advances the Wahabbist agenda. Drowning and homeless? Eh. Need a little cash for a radical madrassah - or to set up a suicide-belt workshop? Now you're talkin!
Tunku makes the point that, globally, it's always the Christian aid groups who are first to step up. But given Pakistani's murderous hostility to Christian "proselytizers", there are simply no such groups established in-country. And given the recent slaughter of ten medical missionaries at the hands of the Taliban, who would dare to sally forth now?
A tragedy, to be certain But one largely of Pakistan's own making.
May '10
Re: The Flood
A CNN report today called the flooding "a slow-motion tsunami". Perhaps the "slow motion" is the reason for the lack of notice. This event has developed over days as a series of small stories, mixed in with fires in Russia and mud-slides in China, and drew no real attention from a media and a country finishing up summer vacations.
The downside of a news collection system tuned for rapid response is that they can overlook slower developing news.
Jul '10
Re: The Flood
Saudi''s to Pakistan: "We'd love to help, Really, we would. But we're a bit tapped out at the moment - funding a whopping big mosque. Gonna be awesome - 500-seat auditorium. Swimming pool..."
Jul '10
Re: The Flood
I'm thinking we're seeing terminal compassion fatigue in the West where it comes to the misery in the Islamic world.
Westerners responded magnificently to the tsunami and might rightly have expected some glimmer of gratitude.
But instead of a thank-you card, we got the underpants bomber and a smoking SUV in Times Square.
Aug '10
Re: The Flood
"A catastrophe of literally Biblical proportions" indeed. According to the standards and practices of strict Islam and Sharia, this is certainly punishment from Allah. America haters everywhere must find a way to blame the West, or they will sink under the weight of their own contradictions.
Of course we Westerners entirely dismiss any possibility that God would punish them, as the implications are fraught with difficulties we don't want to face. But Pakistanis can't escape the clear message.
Why would Allah punish them? Let us count the ways: Destroying the lives of the charitable medical group that gave free eye care to the needy for a decade (violating the basic tenet of alms giving in the Koran); Mutilation (genital and otherwise) and mistreatment of women (also forbidden); Massive government theft and lying; the list goes on.
The Koran has some remarkably humane passages in it, especially in the chapter entitled 'Women'. And Muslims venerate the Old Testament, including the Book of Job, which directly deals with terrible misfortune and God's plans for man.
For a people outwardly posing as pious, Pakistanis are astonishingly hypocritical.
"Hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue" - Matthew Arnold.
May '10
Re: The Flood
I know that the death and devastation was comparably less, but the US press hardly mentioned the Nashville flood, nor did the federal gov't for that matter. Tennesseans were left to fend for themselves for the most part. Were the press to highlight the incompetence of the Pakistan gov't, it would suggest that Obama hasn't done much to improve our situation in Afghanistan. Pakistan gov't hasn't knocked itself out in assisting US efforts to defeat the insurgency in Afghanistan. So, though unfortunate, I'm not entirely surprised people aren't concerning themselves with this disaster.
Jul '10
Re: The Flood
And I don't think it escapes notice here that 84% of Pakistani's express a negative opinion of the United States, despite billions in civilian aid.
Aug '10
Re: The Flood
"Hopeless" is the perfect description, as you say Kenneth.
Jul '10
Re: The Flood
Agreed with Kenneth. Disagreed with Claire.
I read that the floods "will reap for the Islamist terrorists a fresh crop of recruits". The implication is that we should "pay attention" and address the "root causes" or terrorism?
Should we provide universal disaster insurance for the whole world? Would that create fewer terrorists? Are terrorists "created" or are the result of an individual making specific choices.
What else should we take from our blood, sweat and tears to provide [universal health care, enough food for everyone, security] to the world so terrorists are not somehow spawned by our inattentiveness?
Re: The Flood
Kenneth
And I don't think it escapes notice here that 84% of Pakistani's express a negative opinion of the United States, despite billions in civilian aid. · Aug 20 at 7:13am
Those percentages are enough to make a person throw up their hands (and cut off the cash), but opinion is one thing, grand strategy another. There are too many ominous quotes to quote in this NYT report on the flood's impact on our Pakistan strategy. We do not want Pakistan becoming an enormous new Lebanon.
Jun '10
Re: The Flood
Helping a major Muslim nation (with donations) seems a little like taking up a collection for a Rockefeller grandson whose house burned down. Naturally, people assume that the monetary part is covered. Middle Eastern Muslims still sell oil, don't they? If they need some special expertise, or equipment, that's the work of governments. Individual Americans probably don't feel particularly needed, or wanted, in this case. Not as they did with Haiti. The fact that Saudi Arabia is being tightfisted in this situation would probably surprise the heck out of most Americans.
Aug '10
Re: The Flood
Pakistan is in a situation where its government and ideology make it really hard to help.
It's generally unwise to give to charities -- even Christian charities -- paired with Islamic charities or governments, because you simply don't know if the money's going to go where they say it will. (Giving aid via African dictators poses the same problem.) Sure, maybe with a few Islam-related groups, a very thorough background check will reassure you that bread money isn't being diverted into bombs (and Claire, if you know of any such groups, let us know), but I know I've been burned in the past.
For reasons of accountability and transparency, I favor certain Catholic, Evangelical, or Jewish charities, or small self-deploying projects like Team Rubicon. With these people, I feel my donations have a reasonable chance of ending up where they say. But Pakistan hasn't exactly been friendly to Christian missions, has it? I hear Israelis are sending Pakistan aid, but I wonder whether it'll even be accepted?
Adam Smith wrote a passage somewhere on how, when tragedy strikes somewhere where you can't really help, it sorta makes sense not to pay attention.
Aug '10
Re: The Flood
Adam Smith's quote is here.
I don't think it's so much a reflection on the hardheartedness of human nature as it is an observation that the less you can do about something, the less it concerns you -- that we naturally think about problems in terms of how they influence us and what we can do about them.
Aug '10
Re: The Flood
Oh, and there's also the economic problem that, even if our donations aren't going directly towards building bombs, if our donations allow them to divert resources from caring for their people to making bombs, then we're indirectly financing their bomb-making. And so on.
Do we trust this not to happen?
Jul '10
Re: The Flood
I think we're seeing terminal compassion fatigue (in the U.S., at least) across the board to *anyone's* misery but our own. And even our own isn't doing a lot to impress us, since it's being presented in the media as if there's nothing we can do to combat the unemployment, the deflation, the agendas being pushed by our leaders, etc.
May '10
Re: The Flood
Apres nous, le deluge. I fiddle while Rome burns. Was sort of recruiting Andrea for France, and you for Turkey. But both are stronger countries than they were historically. I'll shut up now.
Re: The Flood
My goodness, do I have a lot to say in response to these comments, given that here in Istanbul I'm a (completely failed) campaigner for seismically safe construction. I know this "disaster planning in the Islamic world" issue so deeply and so personally.
I'm in an incredible pre-trip rush today, so I'll just say one thing for now. Every time someone asks me, "Why do you keep trying? Why is this your responsibility? If the whole city collapses in an earthquake, surely that's just what they deserve for ignoring this risk?" And I'm often tempted to nod in perfect agreement, until I look down the street at a building I know will collapse and see my neighbors' kids playing in it.
Edited on Aug 20, 2010 at 10:21amJul '10
Re: The Flood
I simply do not believe it is within our power to stabilize or civilize Pakistan.
Would all the money we've poured down that rat-hole have been sufficient to find and destroy their nuclear weapons - and their ability to produce more?
Because, honestly, without those nukes, Pakistan would be just another squalid, failed Islamic state.
They're not our ally. They don't want to be. And they don't even have that capacity.
May '10
Re: The Flood
I think I'm with you Claire, if I understand where you are going. I recognize that there is realistically little that we can do for flood victims in Pakistan, but we ought to care.
That I give aid, comfort or hospitality to someone is not an expression of who they are but of who I am. At least that's how I see it. We are the nation that helps all who need it. Let the other guys ask, "what's in it for me?"