LOVE AND HAITI IN THE MODERN WORLD

Just a few thoughts on the tragedy in Haiti.

There is a world of truth contained in that popular old bumper sticker, shit happens. If there is one thing you can count on for sure, it is that an earthquake, a hurricane, a tsunami, a train wreck ... something is coming your way, and if not your way, then someone else's way, in which case you will be treated to non-stop videos of the tragedy. What I can't figure out is why we are always so unprepared.

Given the industrial capacity of the modern world and the inevitability of natural disaster, wouldn't it make sense to stockpile food, water and medical supplies in two or three dozen locations around the world, so that when tragedy does strike, and you know it will, instead of sending in Lester Holt and Anne Curry, we could send in the army and the Red Cross ... THE NEXT DAY, not ten days later! This isn't quantum physics or delicate international diplomacy, this is common sense survival of the fittest. Perhaps international cooperation on a project like this could even lead to cooperation on other things. Probably not, but you never know.

Thom Hartman (1150 AM) had a good idea how we could finance it: Executive bonuses in the financial world will amount to more than $100 billion this year. If each of these executives - remember, these are the guys who caused our current world-wide economic crisis - if each of them would tithe the Red Cross, give up just 10% of their bonus, that would be $10 billion. A tidy sum, which, if it didn't cover everything, would certainly get the program off to a nice start. Plus, it might make them feel better about their disgusting bonuses ... I know it would make me fee better.