Millions Could Die In Natural Disasters in Burma/China

This morning it was heartbreaking to wake up and see some of the terrible pictures that have been posted on the Internet from Burma and China. A couple of weeks ago, a major Cyclone struck the southern coast of Burma and claimed the lives of over 100,000 people. Then two days ago a major Earthquake (7.9) hit central China and the death toll there is already over 12,000 people. In order to keep our sanity, most of the world's population is just ignoring the rising death toll in both Burma and China. The average human being will find it difficult to hear and imagine such huge losses of life and be able to process that information into their brains without going insane. One picture I saw this morning from China pretty much sums up how most rescue workers there must feel. In that picture, a member of the Chinese military is holding a dead crushed girl in his hands as tears are streaming down his face. Whether the rescue worker is here in the United States or halfway around the world in China - the image of a crush young girl who had her whole life ahead of her lying dead in their arms - is something that all rescue workers can relate to.

China, unlike their neighbor nation Burma has rushed help and aid to the areas most effect by this earthquake. I knew that China would do a much better job of taking care of their own than the savage and brutal Junta government in Burma. While people worldwide have been rightfully condemning the actions of China when it comes to their sometimes brutal treatment of the citizens of Tibet, it is important to realize that there are governments that are far worse than China when it comes to basic human rights and one need look no further for such a country than China's neighbor Burma. Of course, the natural disaster issues that are currently facing millions of people in Burma and China are reminding many Americans of our last major natural disaster which was Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. There are many Americans that believed the Bush administration deliberately drug their feet when it came to getting aid and evacuation vehicles and personnel into hard hit New Orleans. While some blamed the terrible aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on racism in the Bush administration, I believe they just didn't have a workable plan to deal with such a huge natural disaster.

Death toll figures of one million people plus in Burma and 100,000 plus in China are being used by rescue workers on the ground in these two hard hit countries. While the world is a much bigger place than it use to be, I sometimes wonder what future accomplishments some of those one million plus people that were killed might have made to this world in the future if they had not been struck down and killed in these natural disasters? Could the person that would eventually discover the cure for cancer have died there in the past two weeks? Who knows, but it is impossible for me to imagine that there was not at least one person that was killed there not potentially making a major difference in this world if their life was not so suddenly snuffed out before their full potential could be achieved. Just image where the world would be today if Albert Einstein were killed in his teens by an earthquake? One thing is for sure and that is our lives would be much more primitive than they are today if Einstein were not allowed to grow and use his extraordinary brain capacity to move this world forward into the future.

Right now, over a billion people around the world are trying to help out the people in need in China and Burma. Most human beings know that we all share this planet in one way or another and they don't let silly problems and wars that are fought among nations get in the way of their compassion for a fellow human being. There is more than enough food, medical supplies and financial support to help the survivors of these two massive natural disasters to live. The big question when it comes to counties like Burma is, will the ruling Junta there allow his people to live or let them die because of the fear of outsiders? The good news is that finally the military government of Burma is letting in much needed supplies for for thousands of people that need food and medicine. However, that aid is coming over a week too late for some people that have already died from massive neglect of a military dictatorship that did not do the right thing for it's people.

Title: Millions Could Die In Natural Disasters in Burma/China
Written: May 13 2008
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One Million Dead In Burma A Real Possibility?
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