Tuesday, September 06, 2005
INFORMED VIEWS
Headline above the lead letter in today’s Melbourne Age:
Katrina exposes the catastrophic failure of privatisation
It’s from Joseph Toscano, spokesman for something called the Anarchist Media Institute. Next letter, from Chay Granger, urges that the US adopt a new societal model:
The Chinese political and social system is now well developed to deal with an emergency such as a devastating typhoon. The Chinese Government, by its nature, is very efficient in controlling its people; Chinese are nationalistic and respond easily to government demands; Chinese media are controlled indirectly by the Government, so communications are extremely efficient; Chinese society is family oriented and refugees are easily accommodated within the family structure; social stability and social welfare are high priority for the Government; the economy is booming and the Chinese Government is highly cashed up, it has an enormous amount of resources readily at hand, and it invests heavily in private and non-private sectors (which assist in disaster relief).
In contrast, the US has limited central control, limited family social support, is heavily in debt, has overextended itself in Iraq, and has had limited resources to deal with this emergency situation. The US also shies away from investing in public assets.
It is little surprise then that half a million people were evacuated from Talim’s path, with only five casualties. By comparison, Katrina’s casualties are estimated in the thousands.
Yay for communism, and the “efficient control” of people! Third letter:
No doubt those US businesses such as Halliburton that have benefited most from the destruction in Iraq are rubbing their hands in anticipation as they jockey to be well positioned to exploit the billions of dollars about to start filtering into the devastated areas of hurricane Katrina.
The Age now caters to the fringe of the fringe. Perhaps government control would improve its efficiency.