Japan and the role of the state

[fingertrouble]

As probably a lot of people I've been watching and reading the shocking footage and reports coming out of Japan...weirdly I wanted to visit this year (as did Egypt, am I cursed?) and friends have Japanese wives so like the Christchurch earthquake there's a personal element :-

So I tore myself away from disaster porn and donated - to Shelterbox and the Red Cross (beware the nasty spammers sickly using this situation) and I heartily recommend you to do so too (maybe your local Red Cross or other variant).

Friends are doing an auction which is great work and will benefit those two charities.

One thing like Katrina that shocks me is the reports that 5 days later there is no food, still people waiting in evacuation centres with no heating or power in the snow...I think disasters like this remind us how fragile the state is, and the fact that when the shit hits the fan really it does seem that we aren't the government's priority...Japan's government is in some strange sort of denial over the scary meltdown of several of it's reactors, and people are fleeing away from the zone and Tokyo...and France is evacuating it's nationals and the Brits are looking to do same. It does not look good...I can appreciate that other things might be on their mind, but I am reminded of the dithering and lack of decisiveness that led to crumbling of social ties and order, and death and destruction after Katrina....(incidentally to the sad Pearl Harbor peeps and the fundie trollers or even believers like the extremely sad 'tamtampamela' - RIP, not - Japan contributed aid to Katrina).

Oh and don't get me started on building nuclear power stations on fault lines by the coast...I suppose in Japan everywhere is a fault line, but not having backup power and depending Katrina-like on sea walls = FAIL.

I mean if the government of Japan cannot protect and help those who survive such a catastrophe, it does make you wonder how prepared out governments are too - I'd say not very. Don't want to go very survivalist and libertarian on yo asses but I do think self-sufficiency is going to be the way in future....that social contract is breaking - sometimes in good ways in resistance and revolution a la Egypt, but in other less good ways....nanny state is out drinking with it's rich mates (the ones who can pay to get into the country) and doesn't really care about you or I.

Sadly it means elderly and children suffer, like with Cameron's ConDem pledges, it's always the innocents that get it in the neck. Hmm.

Comments

[fingertrouble.livejournal.com]

The Japanese government originally denied any leakage - and now they find out/ say there is a hole in the roof of the reactor...they downplayed the risk especially when steam was released - and pumped sea water in knowing it could increase the risk of explosion. Saying there was no risk then moving 185,000 people...they're still on that softly softly there's no problem approach -while iodine sells out and people leave Tokyo on trains and planes.

3 reactors have gone critical...

There's a whole lot of denial going on over there.

[snousle.livejournal.com]

They may be soft selling it, but IMHO that's still more accurate and appropriate, at this point, than the exaggerations in the media. Also, "critical" has a particular meaning in nuclear engineering; these reactors are not capable of that.