Humans have a remarkable capacity for deflection when it comes to natural disasters. I bring this up because if you've been watching the news at all, you know that several disasters are occurring not only in the United States, but in the world. Let's examine some of these catastrophes and how humans react.
Yes, Goat. You probably know where this is going. You're smart like that.
Hurricane Harvey. No other natural disaster has been named for a giant rabbit hallucination. Frankly, I'm sure the Texas would rather a rabbit the size of Godzilla traipsed through their state rather than the hurricane that has destroyed so much of the population and infrastructure. Yet somehow through the devastation, humans managed to politicize it; incorrectly they politicized it. Holy hell. Can we show a wee bit more ignorance? I don't think so. Accusing Obama for not responding to Katrina (fun fact: he wasn't president at the time) and accusing his wife of doing something that Condoleeza Rice did; I have no words for the stupidity. I have no words for taking our eyes off the ball and making this about political griping instead of care and compassion for a state that got hammered relentlessly. Thankfully, some people pulled together and helped one another to survive.
I don't think I will actually.
Then of course the stupid bullshit of Joel Osteen, a self-proclaimed man of God who caught hell for not opening his megachurch to hurricane refugees fast enough. Honestly, he's just being true to himself, so...what did you expect? Apparently he even had the audacity to hold a prayer service where he passed the fucking hat. I hope his tithe collection goes 100% to relief efforts. My cynical side doubts that. But man! We are quick to point fingers at him for not being the good shepard for his flock. Along with his stupid response, the idiot windbag Ann Coulter decided to sound off that electing a lesbian mayor is a more believable cause for Harvey than climate change. Jesus fucking Christ. People are without homes, they are suffering from significant trauma, they are hungry, they are thirsty, and they are in need of just about anything else other than these asshats' responses.
The out of touch ridiculousness even makes the canines day drink.
Another delightful disaster is wreaking havoc in my own state. Montana has exactly one place that has decent air quality; a tiny town called Cut Bank. My own city has hazardous air. The fires aren't even that close, but man that wind knows what it's doing. More than half a million acres have burned and there's no end in sight. In fact, the people who know about such things said that it's going to get worse. Additionally, Oregon is riddled with fires. California has its own collection of wildfires including the largest in LA's history. There are lovely graphics out there that show exactly how many fires are in the west right now. Alas! Too many. The west is ablaze like Hell itself. Yet, the federal aide is slow to materialize. Our own Secretary of the Interior claims to be a Montanan, but he's been oddly slow to rally for his state. There are some agencies now that are collecting funds and materials for relief efforts. We're doing without the federal government at the expense of our reserve funds and needs for the remainder of the fiscal year. People are of course sending their thoughts and prayers. Like that helps. It might assuage their guilt and give them some sense of doing something to help when in fact, unless they build a pipeline from Texas and South Asia, thoughts and prayers mean precisely shit. Although, rather than blaming religious sins, people are blaming land management. Some believe that the forests have been improperly managed and that lack of logging in Montana is to blame. Bullshit. There's been plenty of logging around the Lolo Peak fire and it's still just as horrific as any other fire. Oh yeah! The fires are also fueled by grasslands, not just woodlands. But we are ever so eager to blame someone else. I'm sure someone somewhere is blaming the anti-discrimination laws and the gay agenda for the fires as well.
Me going to work this week.
Returning to South Asia for a second, 1,400 people are dead in the worst flooding in their history. Bangladesh, Nepal, and India are without the resources of America and they are overwhelmed by water. Their buildings are not built to withstand this pummeling. Despite getting battered about every year during monsoon season, this year is worse. Of course, they're so far away and they're just brown people that don't count, so why should we even pay attention? We need to take care of our own first, not some foreigners. They should build better buildings and create better levies and improve their causeways for avoiding rising tides. Why should we send our aide to them when we need it here? Because it all adds up to something bigger than any one disaster and some people still deny the reality.
That's about what they do, Snoopy.
For whatever reason, it is easier to blame the disasters on the Biblical sins rather than on the scientifically supported ones. It's easier to blame people on the opposite side of the political fence for the droughts and the pine beetles that kill off the trees leaving them vulnerable to fire. It's easier to shake our heads and bemoan yet another disaster in Asia rather than admit that rising water levels everywhere might have some influence on the horror. But hey! We have no control. There's nothing we can do. This is just what the earth goes through periodically. It'll even out and be fine.
Yes, Odo. I do. Your sarcasm is strong.
In the end, it doesn't matter who you blame because it's all bullshit. Until humans wake up to the fact that we're making this worse, nothing is going to get better. It's easier to blame others than to accept the responsibility that we all bear in this world. Until we stop blaming outside ourselves for the cause, we're just going to see more of the same. Deny it all you want; it will still come.
Sorry, Moose. Don't think even you can outrun climate change.
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