“Japan’s Hydra-headed Disaster: The Fallout”
The Economist
March 17, 2011
One of the most powerful parts of this article was its emphasis on the Japanese culture of finding some semblance of order out of chaos—there was no looting, little complaining among the survivors, and many survivors still stood in line to get their taxes in on time. The individual character of the Japanese people has been resilient while, according to this article, the nuclear sector’s actions have been the opposite. Individuals tried their best to contain nuclear fallout but the incompetence of TEPCO has now raised concerns – and costs – of nuclear energy worldwide. In Japan’s case, nuclear power is the one form of power that can be created in Japan. If it were to get rid of nuclear power, it would have to import tons of coal and gas. In all things there are pros and cons. This tsunami in Japan is no different. We now await the world’s reaction.
--Jared Colton
3 comments:
Wow that is so interesting that Japan relies so heavily on Nuclear Power. It will be interesting to see how well/when they will get a hold of the nuclear crisis and what they ultimately will chose to do; keep relying on nuclear power or switch to coal and gas.
I like your introduction of this article. I think it would be so hard not to loot and just be civilized after such a huge disaster. How do they do it? It's incredible.
I'm reading a book called "Japanland." It talks a lot about virtue and order in a Japanese society. "The Japanese have learned to trust their proper place in life, to depend on the security that comes with a structured social order." That explains why there is pretty much no looting after such a damaging disaster.
I now have a much greater respect for those wonderful people.
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