Monday, February 05, 2007

Does Yudhoyono Hate Poor People?

A city about 17 times the size of New Orleans (population-wise) is 75% under water, and, frankly, it doesn't seem to be big news, even there. Jakarta floods all the time and the city's residents appear to be fatalistic about it. They seem to understand that if you build a city in a spot where it is bound to flood, well, then you should not get too worked up when it, 'ya know, floods. I am waiting for the accusations that the Indonesian Prime Minister, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has it out for some particular ethnic or racial group and that the Indonesian government apparatus is a criminal failure (it is but not for this reason) for its inability to pluck every last citizen from their rooftops and helicopter them to safety. Of course, I jest because we won't hear such cries. In Asia they don't get all bent out of shape over this type of thing (life is cheap in Asia) and they don't really expect anything from their government in the way of humanitarian caring and concern. While we are different, we feel that our wealth and democratic tradition means we should strive for a government that can and should provide assistance in times of trouble, we should note that we are exception around the world. For the most part around the world it is still every man for himself and what level of help the US government did supply the residents of New Orleans was an incredibly large amount and a rare occurence relative to our world at large.

1 Comments:

Blogger Tax Shelter said...

I don't know why a city like New Orleans can't finance the rebuilding by selling bonds. Are there good reasons that the Federal government should pay for the rebuilding using tax payers' money (mostly collected from other parts of the country)?

8:13 AM  

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