The day after the hurricane, when I learned that the majority of Puerto Ricans had NO DRINKING WATER, my face turned pale. I could not imagine a way that thousands wouldn't die.I have to confess that I'd never considered this outcome: that thousands would indeed die (upwards of 5000), but that no one would care.
I am not expert in such things; I just know human beings can't live without water. So I can't understand how our government - even our corrupt, fake one - failed to recognize the severity of this for over a week. A trombonist reacting to TV news should not be more clued in than FEMA, the White House, and our armed forces, with all their data and expertise, when it comes to matters of disaster aftermath.
I pray it's not actually that bad, and that the military, having finally arrived, will stabilize things and this will turn out to be a trauma and not an apocalypse. But, again: I know, even without special expertise, that human beings can't live nine days without drinking water.
When we finally see what happened, it may chill the world. I have a choking fear that it's been a killing field. If so, this, not the Russian collusion, will be Trump's downfall. Those football tweets may one day be recalled like Nero's fiddling amid Rome's burning - an epic display of failure and evil that will echo in shocked disgust for centuries.
Hopefully I'm wrong. I'm overreacting, and there've been dozens of deaths, not thousands, and Trump will be just an idiotic transient blot on history rather than a Nero. That would be fantastic. But something tells me we need to brace for impact when the full outcome (e.g. from rural sections) finally emerges.
We are all complicit in the silence. Our president certainly can't make us not talk about this. For now, the thing to do is to donate (here is a slightly stale but excellent set of recommendations), preferably beyond your fiscal pain point. If you don't, then you oughtn't wag your head in angry exasperation.
I just donated to most of the groups on that list, plus this group, endorsed by Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto, the mayor of San Juan.
1 comment:
Thanks for drawing attention to this. I've been busy and can't sift through all the news. A lot of fake news and questionable sources to wade through that slows down searches.
While on the topic of donating to charity, here's an interesting video from the theatlantic. In summary, use logic when donating. Donate large sums to few charities.Donating a small amount to a lot of charities can cost the charity more money then your donation in processing costs.
Your okay that I use your slog as a quick way to get the news?
https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/474588/why-empathy-is-a-bad-thing/
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