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Thinking about Disasters and Resources

I've been paying as much attention as anyone to the recent earthquake disaster and I have realized several things: (1) The digital divide is alive and well in that part of the world, resulting in very little information flow. (2) I know very little about civil society in that region and the capacity of NGOs to respond, but I get the impression that clans and families are tight knit and that those community connections are the greatest resource many survivors have right now. (3) Thinking back on the tsunami and the recent hurricanes, I am clinging to a hope that this pattern of catastrophes will help to reorient the spending patterns of the world's governments, but I don't think it will. I'm saddened, for example, by the recent Republican initiative to slash spending on poverty programs as a response to Hurricane Katrina. (4) I know I am utterly naive about such things, but don't the world's governments have thousands and thousands of helicopters and other suitable aircraft? Why aren't they at the front lines, delivering aid? Posted: 10/12/05; 11:01:40 AM #