The Angering Facts from Japan’s Nuclear Problem
— Update on 2011/04/04: Japan seeks Russian help to end nuclear crisis (Reuters). What do you know? It seems I was quite accurate after all…
I had taken some time away to let myself marinate in a lot of thoughts and feelings that I have for awhile, and also because a project in my job is sucking the life out of me. However, there is something about what is going on underneath the surface of the Japan nuclear problem that disturbs me so much that I feel like I have to write.
If you hadn’t been watching the news, basically the nuclear problem in Japan has been worsening since day 1 and how it will completely unfold remains unseen.
These seem to be where we stand right now globally regarding this:
- Some countries had sent some units to help with the rescue. (token humanitarian effort? — no insult to the people who actually went to help. I have utmost admiration and respect for them.)
- All countries with residents in Japan are telling them to flee.
- United States media is taking the opportunities to report as much as possible and hopefully get better ratings (euphemism)
- The nuclear panic had led to a hoarding of salt and some other every commodities in China
- The nuclear panic had led to a hoarding of potassium iodide pills in the United States
Here is where Japan stands:
- some
50180 plant workers heroically (and I do mean heroically) stayed behind to work on the different reactors… (but think about how many people are needed to deal with an exploded pipeline on the street? while there are 4 nuclear reactors malfunctioning…) - They are now down to dropping water from helicopters to try to cool and prevent a nuclear meltdown.
Do you have any idea what that implies? That implies, if not for certain, that Japan is down to its last trick to try to stop things from getting worse. They may have the will but they are at the limit of their abilities. They are at their wits’ end. The question we may ask, “How’s that related to me?”
Maybe you’ll answer “crap, we’ll have a gigantic nuclear disaster”. It is a minor-partially correct answer because the true correct is that we will have another world economic problem in our hands. This deal is sealed the day people decided “globalization” is the next greatest thing.
With a nuclear disaster on who-know-what-scale, Japan economy is shot, companies with bases in Japan are hampered, all global resources(food, energy…) will need to be further divided, and who know what other consequences.
I am not saying it will or has to happen, but with this pending problem… instead of addressing this real problem, which also includes risking of thousands, if not millions of lives, the mighty nations of our globe and leaders of big nations decide this is what they will do…
Despair, anger, frustration, speechlessness, darkness… are a few adjectives that describe how that makes me feel. These global power instead of sending specialized units that deal with nuclear contamination (they have to have these units, especially countries with nuclear weapons…) to help prevent and mitigate the real nuclear problem, they decide… “oh, let’s just make sure to keep the money flowing. Money is what matters, and that is above the significance of humanity… we’ll get to the saving human life part later [and only perhaps… if there’s something we can call we save…]”.
Is it me or this is f#@$-ing retarded? When it is time for global population to do right, this is what we have?
Solving the real problem not only will keep the money flowing down the road (because Japan will rebuild herself and probably into something better than before) but will also save lives… and lives that had yet been born…
The only hope is that, what is said here is ALL wrong and things do not actually worsen because otherwise, we will have some very horrible situations in our hands due to some very very terrible man-made errors that will make the earthquake and tsunami pale in comparison.
Speaking in a different context, the decisions that are being made by people world-wide throughout this situation had already demonstrate a very narrow narrow model of thinking prevalent in our human culture (because observe what most people are ONLY concern about…). How little we truly, genuinely care about each other… The path this current human culture is taking is not good, but this should be the subject for another day.
People who know what these last few words mean will already know what they mean.
People who don’t know what they mean, well, feel free to email me and with questions and I’ll be happy speak and respond and have a conversations.
Originally posted 2011-03-17 18:51:28. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
My, Piggy, why do you take this one dearly?
It said finance ministers were intervening in the currency markets. This is what finance ministers do. Finance ministers do not solve a nuclear crisis, save people from the rubble or provide food shelter for the needy; it’s just not the type of things they’re specialized in. Their job is to protect the existing order, good or bad. I think it’s unfair to take 7 finance minsters and say “that’s human culture”.
You cannot look to politicians to find the forces for good in the world. I believe the forces of good are happening on another level. Those 150 heroes matter more than the 7 finance ministers – it is on them we should write articles about, not the seven puppet masters…
I don’t think this is a new path we are taking, rather just the same one as always. What era are you referring to when the majority of people went leaders and their people went out of their way to care for each other? I do not think people are evil or completely selfish, but the societal systems make it difficult to act otherwise.
Still, if only 1% of population truly care about each other, they are the ones that matter above all.
Why I take this one so dearly? Part of it being the thing already said that the amount of human lives involved and the many generations that had yet to come — look at Chernobyl, and I saw the potentiality of this being worse than Chernobyl when I wrote the post.
Second of all, it is not so much this standalone event, but observations from many more current events around the globe that implicitly demonstrates a fundamental attitude to life of modern human beings, and also points to a underlying human culture that is unable to find harmony to live with both themselves and their environment, and is on a horrible path of destruction and ultimately self-destruction.
This is not a statement about end of the world in a year or so but rather, pointing out the inevitable outcome base on a course of action, which takes an unpredictable amount of time but inevitable nonetheless.
I feel passionate, and occasionally anger, because I see much potentiality of things being otherwise, yet which seem so impossible for humans to undertake — that which require not 1% but majority, if not 100%, of population.
You are right that our systems and society make it difficult, if not prohibit, to act… “right”, nor is it politicians, finance ministers job to do so… but don’t forget they are also people. What system nor politicians do we have when the people aspect are neglected. Perhaps it is time for us to lay down these positions and find what life, ultimately, human life means for us. A task for each of us.
I do not know what system nor rules to implement; however, I do believe, sincerely, that finding such understanding, and becoming more wise, if not enlightened, is the step we need. That is, as opposed to more technology at this point.
There is no species on earth that could have 100% of its population working towards a common goal. The very nature of evolution is based on the premise that at any given time, species fight amongst themselves for their right to survival. To hold humanity to that kind of standard to me sound terribly idealistic – even in its purest form, the world was never as you make it out to be, no?
To ask for 100% is to ask for perfection. Isn’t that contrary to the zen approach I’ve seen amongst your other posts :). As you said “Try too hard to play the piano, you will sound like shit.” ;-) That made me chuckle.
In the now, people are hurting, they need help, and we can do what we can to help a bit. The potentialities of what could be are just that, potentialities. They are in our minds, and to get angry that the world is not perfect, or even just better, is a fruitless exercise. Should we be angry that we are not omnipotent and all powerful? Arguably the potentiality is there – in fact we are omnipotent relative to our far ancestors and are weak compared to our far away children. But then we shall be doomed to be forever angry.
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Do you find it so great for us to live without aspiration? It may not be possible to reach 100% but nonetheless it is what many excellent human beings strive for — artists, athletes, instrumentalists, etc.
To continue using a pianist analogy, a pianist has to go through persistent (even frustrating) and sometimes gruesome amount of practice plus self-reflection during the practice process — for an extended period of time — to become virtuoso. I don’t see human as a species doing that, nor has even started. We are simply too arrogant yet. [yes, I know it sounds arrogant for me to say so too, but so be it.]
If to be perfectly zen as to have no anger and other human emotions, I gladly give up such zen practice, for to be humans is to be sensitive and to experience emotions and feelings, as much as the logic and rationale power that we hold.
It is precisely people are hurting that wisdom is necessary for us to act and react to now and what is to come. It is, more significantly, that we are omnipotent relative to our ancestors that we require a proper level of wisdom to wield such power. Otherwise, it’s like giving a 5 year old a sharp katana.
People like to make argument that how could everyone becomes wise? But that is like arguing wisdom is good only carried by a few and with high demand. I say, if all of us becoming wise means wisdom becomes cheap, then let wisdom become cheap.
I also recommend the book Island by Aldous Huxley (author of the more famous book Brave New World) base on our discussion.
In a way, it shows how a society of “good people”, like the 1% of population that you mentioned, invariably gets consumed by a system that is sick.
To not aim for 100% does not mean to have no inspirations at all. That would be for the rich man who will not be happy until he owns every ounce of wealth in the world.
The virtuoso does not strive to reach 100%. He strives to be a little better than yesterday. Or perhaps better than his master. But there is no 100%, no perfection, because for musicality that is a meaningful concept. The musician who makes every note according to some scientific standard of precise measurement has lost his way. You’ve simpled the virtuoso on a subjective measure of musical worth that is highly dependent on who is judging him.
There is little doubt that the crappy world we have today is a little less crappy than the one from a thousand years ago, for most countries in the world. It is a slow, painstaking process, but on the scale of thousands of years, we improve. 300 years ago you would not even have known about a disaster in Japan. You would not have cared either – these people would have seemed as far away as martians to you. Today we can make donations across the globe to help them. 300 years ago that was a physical impossibility. Today some of us are able to care for people far way. That is different.
That’s all I can add for now, I’ll check back later :).
Sure Muzie, thanks for checking back and having a discussion. Let me end on a quote from Bruce Lee/Alan Watts, ” [Words/thoughts] It’s like a finger pointing away to the moon. Don’t concentrate on the finger, or you will miss all the heavenly glory.”