ATTITUDE & PERSPECTIVE
Following the aftermath of last weeks cruel combination of natural disasters the result of a massive earthquake & tsunami & the growing fears of a nuclear meltdown, the immense scale of the disaster in Japan wrought by last Friday’s earthquake and tsunami has become clearer in the last few days. The current nuclear plant situation is critical. The risk of a nuclear accident remains as experts continued to work on preventing three reactors at the ageing Fukushima atomic plant from overheating. A state of emergency was also declared at the Onagawa nuclear power plant because of high radiological readings as a cloud of radiation is spreading from Fukushima. "They've lost control", the French claim Japan is hiding the full scale of the nuclear disaster.
"As these words are written, there are several dozen workers still at work in the bowels of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, bravely doing what they can to keep the reactor cores cool. Though no one likes to dwell on this fact publicly, these workers likely are sacrificing their own lives — or much of them anyway — to radiation poisoning, so that millions of their fellow citizens will be safer. It is a selfless, noble instinct we see expressed in Hollywood movies and ant colonies. But how often do we see it exhibited by real human beings?" - Jonathan Kay - nationalpost.com
The northeast of Japan has become a virtual ghost town in the last week with streets normally full of people now practically empty and has become eerily quiet & what once was cities full of daily bustling life have turned into a deserted wasteland. Entire towns on the country’s north-east coast were wiped out by the 10-metre high wall of water, some small towns entirely destroyed - four nuclear plants at risk of a meltdown.
Towns are flattened, there is only a few buildings standing and it's just a mass of twisted debris.
There is an ongoing danger from further aftershocks. Hundreds have struck since Friday, including 30 with a Richter scale magnitude of 6 or higher. About 1.5 million households remain without water supplies and 2.5 million have no power. Overnight temperatures are near-freezing, making the situation even more difficult for survivors, while basic foodstuffs and petrol are in short supply in the affected areas.
This is the first time the world has dealt with a humanitarian crisis of this proportion. Born out of a simultaneous earthquake, tsunami, and a looming high probability of a nuclear catastrophe - the result of this natural calamity.
From the rubble & debris will arise new world order that would forever change the course of history.
With crisis comes change. From one end of the globe to the other no one is immune to crisis. A global age has in turn led to a global crisis, a crisis that will require a global response as well. What matters most is what we are, and NOT what we have.The need for human aid is urgent. About 450,000 people are in emergency accommodation with 9,500 people still unaccounted for out of a population of 17,000. A lack of fuel and extremely cold weather in the areas hardest hit by Japan's earthquake and tsunami is proving to be among the biggest challenges for aid organisations as aid agencies rush to Japan's Humanitarian front the crisis deepens. Millions of people in Japan's devastated northeast, traumatized survivors were spending a fourth night without water, food or heating in near-freezing temperatures whilst toiletsoverflow in overwhelmed shelters. A tsunami has destroyed the physical structure of Japans tsunami-ravaged coastal regions but it has failed to break the peoples physical & mental morale.
Remarkably, despite the extreme conditions in parts of Japan which include power cuts and a lack of food and clean water & amid the massive despair the people have remained peaceful, with no reports of looting or violence. There is order & dignity amid quake hardship.
Scores of people are lined up at stores in an orderly fashion awaiting rations. These lines organised by themselves with no need for order as this has been instilled in their society from a very young age. No ones complainig. There is a sense of orderly community. The Japanese have been raised to be strongly disciplined & live by strict principles.
People are being fair with their rations and not going back for second helpings, people are helping each other & sharing equally. There is a sense of civility and community. They have a true sense of national character of being bought up to be orderly - ruled by strict authority, rules & conformity. This is the make up of stability that keeps the Japanese together, united & dignified. Their sense of survival is relying on each other, holding on to hope. the entire nation is putting forth its best effort to save all suffering people. In unity is strength.
If one were to conceive of how an ideal society would respond to collective tragedy, this is more or less how one would imagine it. Japans qualities are extraordinary and deeply impressive by how Japan's society operates with a sense of national character to see people who have survived, and are suffering from the biggest disaster, encourage themselves to live for tomorrow. This is so courageous. The world appreciates the extraordinary sense of collective discipline being exhibited by the nation as a whole. The country has equally valuable lessons to teach us about the human capacity for composure and courage in the face of epic tragedy. Never give up hope. The bravery amidst disaster is a model for us all!
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