Quote:
Originally Posted by P-hack
This is where we diverged and got a little political/solicitous. You insisted that he deserves respect for supporting your country. Meanwhile about 35,000 people die every year in car accidents in the US, and we have plenty of other money problems to boot (our debt exceeds our gdp).
And if you buy into fossil fuel driven environment change, well more glorification of cars doesn't help that one bit.
But to say it is unprecedented is also a little naive:
Typhoons in the Philippines - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
I don't "insist" anything. If you don't care for charity, that's your own lookout.
And this country is as much my country as the USA is, since I'm a US citizen living on foreign soil. I just think it's nice a guy would take time out to try and raise funds to help people get back on their feet.
I've already stated that I don't particularly like that "Fast and Furious" glorified street racing. Irresponsible, illegal, juvenile street racing. Glorifying oil consumption? Hell... all media does that. Unconsciously, continuously. Just the fact that we sit here and talk about cars instead of rabidly endorsing cycling means that we are still glorifying oil consumption. But at least he channeled the fame he got from that into doing some good stuff.
And unprecedented means unprecedented. I find it funny that you can lecture me on the typhoon situation here, since I've lived through all the biggest ones.
If you read closely into the Wikipedia article, you'll note that the typhoon that hit Ormoc in the 90's caused so much death because illegal logging in the area had denuded the watershed to the point where flooding and landslides were a danger. The one that hit Compostela Valley was only deadly because of so many settlers insisting on living in the danger zone around the rivers.
This typhoon was worse. It rolled over the entire province like a tsunami. People were thrown dozens of feet in the air while they were busy lashing down structures and goods while preparing for the storm. People, again, in evacuation centers died. Concrete buildings were levelled. Modern steel structures didn't just have their roofs ripped off, the steel framework was often ripped off of the foundations.
Yes, the people were unprepared for it. In the same sense Japan was unprepared for the tsunami. Ergo: They took reasonable precautions, but reasonable just wasn't good enough. (yes, there were people living in danger zones, but again, a lot of casualties weren't... some heavily built houses on mountaintops were also levelled).
To call anyone "naive" in that situation would be akin to chiding anyone sitting in the Twin Towers on September 11 for not bringing a parachute to work.