Gary's views

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

TSUNAMI

The devastating tsunami waves that swept away so many lives over the Christmas break underlined the timeless truth that bad things happen to good people. It is pointless agonising over deep philosophical meaning to this tragedy: why them, why now, or simply why? It just happens. The earth’s crust is unstable. There will always be earthquakes and other powerful geological events. We will never completely conquer the awesome power of our planet. Natural disasters have always been with us, always will be.
The crucial thing is: how will we respond?

1. We can all make a small difference. Cataclysmic events like this recent tragedy can make us feel helpless, but we are not helpless. There is plenty we can do. We can give money and many are. The great British public have shown again how big-hearted we are by digging deep into our pockets and stumping up £70 million and rising. It does make you proud to be British. We can support the existing charities that are already doing good work in the regions so badly affected. We can launch new charity ventures of our own. We can enter into those excellent schemes where you “sponsor” a child from afar, for as little as fifteen pounds a month.

2. We can work for a better world. We can put pressure on our politicians to do more, not just in giving aid right now, but working harder for global security and prosperity. Look at the difference in the capacity of mighty USA to cope with recent hurricanes compared to humble Grenada. Britain now has leadership of the G8 group of wealthiest industrialised nations. We should use this terrible disaster to focus the minds of world leaders on some of the obstacles that hold back progress for poorer nations, not least free trade and conflict resolution. For me, the most important target is to reshape the United Nations into an effective organisation that can play a real part in global events rather than a pointless talking shop.

3. We can put in place better warning systems. It may only happen every few decades, but there is no reason why we cannot ensure that in future the precious few hours of warning of impending tidal waves are used to move people back from the coast.

Plenty to think about then as we start another year. We can’t stop bad things happening, but we can choose how we respond.
Happy New Year!

posted by Nigel on Sunday, January 09, 2005