Lands of Catastrophe: The Case of India and Pakistan
Millions suffer every year in the subcontinent from a cycle of horrible floods and water shortages, write Jayant Bhandari. Millions die of easily and cheaply treatable diseases. Hundreds of thousands die like flies — and nature gets the blame. Why is it that so many people die in these countries while the West hardly ever suffers from such problems? (Not even the flooding of New Orleans can compare.) Any layman should be able to correlate the facts to see that it does not have much to do with nature. FULL ARTICLE
Comments (14)
This is just the latest in a long history of so-called natural disasters, which in reality owe most of their distructive power not to mother nature but to the nature of government.
Published: October 31, 2005 8:13 AM
I wouldn't be surprised if the same environmentalists also blame global warming for the earthquake; something to do with a warming earth being more pliable and susceptible to sudden shifting.
Published: October 31, 2005 9:01 AM
Before we complain too loudly about the developing world, I would note that the 1918 Flu Pandemic affected the whole world, and that the really big wars that killed a lot of people and still kill a lot of people are only fightable by the major players. Europe has been in perpetual war since before the time of Romulus. Only in the 20th century could a "world war" with the extreme casualties be fought. Becareful when you hitch the powerful horse of capitalism to the cart of war and human destruction - it makes that more efficient too. There are nazi-like genocidal tendencies today (though not much in the west), but without technology, they aren't implemented efficiently.
Published: October 31, 2005 12:56 PM
Jayant's article can certainly shock the minds of people who have been buying the yarn spun by politicians and the mainstream news media regarding the Indian/Pakistan earthquake. Its about time that somebody exposed the detrimental effects that state corruption is having on the lives of ordinary, everyday people living on the Indian sub-continent. Perhaps with more writers and commentators like Jayant who can shock readers' minds with a dose of reality (in its lurid and corrupt form), change may eventually be possible in India's long term future.
Harry Valentine
Harry Valentine
Published: October 31, 2005 1:27 PM
Nice article. I would like to add that i know quite a few muslims that own businesses, most are rather entreprenual. However, they're all here in America. So it's no surprise that the pakistani/muslim culture banishes it's best or entreprenual members out of the country (if they don't kill them first). Most of india's best entreprenuers (outside of the growing programming workforce) are spread out in western "capitalist" countries. The statist idealists are the majority in these countries because they'd do whatever they can to make any entreprenual lifestyle a living hell. All the business people could possibly hope for is to emigrate.
So Lesson 7: Goverment drives out the good, and spreads and nutures the bad.
Published: October 31, 2005 2:57 PM
The Kashmir earthquake cost tens of thousands of lives. How many did the (stronger) San Francisco earthquake cost?
The answer is not only the vast difference in living standards, but the appalingly poor rating of economic freedom of Pakistan and India, and their very high ratings on corruption. The 2005 Global Corruption Report shows that perceived probity standards in the Indian government have dropped since the early 1980s. Pakistan is perceived to have even greater corruption.
Reduce and clean up government and save lives!
Published: October 31, 2005 6:09 PM
I would venture a guess that the amount and complexity of government regulation of building construction is much higher in the US than in India and Pakistan. Yet the quality of construction in the US is much, much higher than India or Pakistan.
I think the author is trying to prove too much. His anecdotes actually describe government building inspectors being bribed by the private sector not to do their jobs. Thus, I can only agree strongly with the author on this conclusion: "...culture can trump self-interest." India and Pakistan suffer not so much from bad government as they do bad ideas.
Published: November 3, 2005 10:49 AM
"India and Pakistan suffer not so much from bad government as they do bad ideas." One of their worst bad ideas is that government rather than a free market will help them live better.
If the contention is true that the amount and complexity of government regulation of building construction is much higher in the US than in India and Pakistan, then God help us. But the reason we in the US do not live in squalor today is despite, rather than because of ANY government intervention we have ever endured.
Our prosperity and ability to build structures that do not crumble at the first hint of earthquake is because there was a time when our markets were much freer than in these third world countries. It's something anyone who enjoys an above subsistence lifestyle should take notice of.
Published: November 3, 2005 11:19 AM
Is there a government regulation in India and Pakistan that prevents people from building earthquake-resistant structures?
Published: November 3, 2005 11:55 AM
According to this article? Yup; environmentalists never work alone. The state is their accomplice:
“…There was ample wood around, which was cheap, strong, and readily available. More importantly the skill developed over a period of generations was helpful to construct houses that absorbed shocks. Wood does not fall apart as easily as concrete does when an earthquake strikes, and it is a lot less heavy.
“But that was then. We soon got "environmentalists" who called themselves saviors of the trees. They started haranguing everyone about how quickly forests were disappearing, and the price of wood went through the roof. People no longer owned their own trees."
Indians wouldn't stop building with wood if it were only private individuals telling them not to. They would need to be coerced and subsidized by the state to go to cement construction. How else but by the state would it have come to pass that “People no longer owned their own trees�?
Published: November 3, 2005 12:25 PM
Steamship, in the article it is noted that wooden structures, less prone to damage in an earthquake, were replaced by concrete specifically because of government intervention. It is in fact illegal to build *cheap* earthquake-resistant structures.
I'm certain that the wealthy and the government build very nice, expensive, earthquake resistant buildings "up to code" and all that. We're not talking about wealthy areas or government buildings.
Living some place like America where private property has at least lip-service causes problems for peoples perspectives. Americans look at the "poor" and see cars, colour televisions, good shoes, nice clothes. The only reason for this is that there is still inertia left in the American economy from before the progressives began taxing away capital accumulation.
But don't worry, we'll have equality soon enough. Except for the politically well connected, that is.
Published: November 3, 2005 12:31 PM
Steamship, I think Paul in his first message put together a great response. I really think you should chew on that for a while. Here is more.
The labor laws in India insist that you provide water-pots and windows in the working area. The toilets are to be of a certain kind – where you can squat, and those you can flush in a certain way etc. etc. Fair enough, if we still lived in 50s. So if you provide water-coolers and air-conditioning, it is illegal. The law DOES STOP you from providing nicer facilities to your employees.
I wouldn't be surprised if the laws in India and Pakistan did stop you from building earthquake-resistant structures. But then if someone gave you, Steamship, evidence of that, you would ask next: So why did these people not bribe the public servants to be allowed to build earthquake-resistant structures? And hence this is not a response to your second question.
The state breeds and institutionalizes corruption everywhere, more importantly in the society, taking responsibility away from the individuals, making them fatalistic, and breaking the natural order.
Published: November 3, 2005 12:54 PM
The state and federal governments regulate building construction and the workplace very heavily in the US and yet our buildings are durable and functional. Again, it seems to me more a problem of a backwards, ignorant culture than of government. Indians and Pakistanis are always free to decline to use subsidized concrete, or they can import pine to use as a building material.
Published: November 3, 2005 3:56 PM
Steamship:
If you were not cynical, I would have said that one of the toughest thing to do in India is to import. Apart from that, in India, to take pine or wood from one place to another would have needed hundreds by checks by the police, tax office and the forest department - at the border of each village and town. And you would have needed to bribe all of them, and would have needed spending overnights at the highway. Some policemen might have beaten you up before asking questions. The army in Kashmir would have stripped you several times, and you would be at gunpoint for quite a while. It would have cost you a fortune, and all your confidence and self-respect (and I promise, including yours). You would soon be groveling at the feet of the bureaucrats.
But as earlier, your comment needs a different response.
India is indeed a backward culture, but why does a culture stay backward?
If the state did not kill your self-respect, as mentioned above, you would continue to exist in India as you are, creating an institution of self-respect (if I can attribute this to you). Today such people leave India or go silent. When individuals are allowed to express themselves, are allowed to be responsible, they grow up with a refined character. (Australia and NZ, which were once populated by a bunch of crooks are now among the world’s most honest and decent people.) The West is great not because all the people here are great, but because there are some who have spearheaded greatness, and the power of the state did not oppose it.
But, that is the glorious past of the West. What happened in Pakistan/India, recently happened in a small way in New Orleans. What you are seeing is a cultural degeneration of the West, aided mostly by liberals, and partly by the arrogant people, none of who hold the values that made the West great.
Published: November 3, 2005 6:26 PM