Can we avoid moralizing about the earthquake in Chile, please?
The elderly sometimes don’t sleep very much, so it’s entirely possible that as a powerful earthquake struck Chile this morning, 8.8 magnitude on the richter scale, Pat Robertson was already awake in Virginia preparing to take to the airwaves of the Christian Broadcasting Network to explain to us how the Chileans had brought disaster and destruction on themselves.
What could have motivated Robertson’s vision of God to strike down Chile? Throwing his good personal friend Pinochet out of power and then forcing him into a life of house arrest prior to this death? Abortion is illegal in Chile, but the country has considered extending civil unions to gays and lesbians. I’m sure Robertson can find some holy poop to throw against the wall and make stick in this case. Heck, if the tsunami that’s branching out kills anyone in Hawaii, I’m sure Pat will argue that it’s because they sent us President Obama.
The earthquake in Chile is already reported to have killed about 80 people in the area closest to the epicenter (see Reuters), and given the remoteness of some of the areas struck by the tsunami that followed the quake, it will take time to get a lead on the true toll of this terrible disaster. Given the destruction described in the capital city of Santiago and large second city Concepcion, it’s reasonable to presume that the death toll will reach the hundreds, if not the thousands.
But there is hope that because Chile has been something of an economic dynamo in recent years, the country will fare better in terms of the number of lives lost and the organization of the response by local authorities than Haiti did with the quake that devastated the country last month. The thinking goes that Chile has developed the flexible institutions that can respond to this incident, and its after-shocks, in a reasonable manner.
I’ll try to be optimistic, although I worry that in any boom times, corners get cut and that can lead to shady real estate development practices that could imperil the lives of city dwellers facing a disaster like an earthquake. That said, just because Haiti is sundered by crushing poverty and Chile is not and Chile possibly doesn’t experience as much of a catastrophe as Haiti after its earthquake is not a reason to start comparing the two.
Earthquakes are something of an enduring issue in Chile where within the past 50 years they were struck by a quake more powerful than this one – in fact, 1960’s 9.5 magnitude Valdivia quake is the most powerful ever recorded. Haiti, on the other hand, has been felled by many disasters, but hadn’t seen a serious earthquake since the 1700s. The January earthquake didn’t just devastate Haiti because they have weak political and economic institutions and infrastructure. It devastated Haiti because it was a country that was not in any way, shape, or form prepared for earthquakes.
So before anyone goes all Pat Robertson or Jonah Goldberg on ‘Chile as an object lesson in why Haiti needs to pursue free market capitalism,’ go pour yourself a nice tall glass of STFU. It’s a disaster, and the Chilean people need empathy and support, not to be used as a sermon topic delivered to the Haitian people from the high priests of the church of disaster capitalism.
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As a believer, it does seem that we are in the end times, what the bible calls the earth having birth pains, they don’t link this to global warming, but I think that is part of these pains too- and since these things have to happen we know what we are in for(high stakes, everything in the Bible has to happen or God is no longer God and Satin wins- his mission is to make just one prophecy an error, and they know the book better than we). Pray everyone finds the gift of salvation, it is free for the asking. If I am wrong what has one lost? Nothing, but if I am right…
http://biblethesaurus.org/b/birth-pains.htm
Ah yes, good to see fire insurance evangelism is alive and well in the church. Carry on.
In response to another comment. See in context »Earthquakes happen every day.
http://www.iris.edu/seismon/
P.S. Hail Satin!
In response to another comment. See in context »I hate to say it, but things sure feel a little too apolcalyptic these days — there are days it feels the earth is simply sick of us all and our predations. Barely a week goes by without (normal?) some fresh new hell exploding.
That assholes make use of it commercially only adds to the obscenity.
Well said sir, well said.
I don’t read the Daily Kos much, and haven’t plagiarized anything. Before you bandy around a word like that, have some evidence to back it up. You’ve got none.
You’re right, the Chileans are just suffering form an earthquake, as are the Haitians. They don’t need their suffering compounded by moralizing crusaders, whether it’s the people charting a path where Haiti becomes our latest offshore haven or the people arguing that disaster victims bring it upon themselves, and that voice always comes from the right in this country. Always. If I can be a voice urging the Jonah Goldbergs and Pat Robertsons to keep their hound-like mouths at bay, I am happy to do so.
Don’t put words into my mouth. I didn’t say I’ve never heard of the Daily Kos. I seldom read it because I don’t find a lot of interesting content there. Turning this into allegation of plagiarism, a serious charge that borders on libel, because I and an anonymous blogger somewhere else in the world published some comparable thoughts within 45 minutes of one another is pretty much what I expect from anonymous commenters who hide behind the internet to cover up for what little people they are.
Anyways, yes, I’m making a political point about scumbags on the conservative end of the spectrum who use humanitarian crisis to say things like “Haiti made a deal with the devil” or “Louisianans, get ready for WaterWorld.” Trust me, my indignation is about as sincere as your trollish personality.