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Much has been made of the tragedy in the southern U.S. over the
past few weeks. The media have enjoyed immensely showing us
scenes of people who were stranded on housetops and stuck in
unhealthy shelters.
Sadly, what many of them missed was the good stuff that
happened to the large majority of one million people who were
forced to evacuate their homes and leave their home states to
bunk in with others, sometimes total strangers. Some, for
example, are staying as far away as Canadian universities.
The Katrina will, in coming months and years, rank as more
profound in its consequences than 9/11. It may change the
direction that the world will take over the coming years.
September 11, 2001, made many Americans believe that everyone
who was not a U.S. citizen was potentially dangerous, a threat
to "the American way of life," perhaps to their personal safety.
Since Katrina, over half the nations on Earth have contributed
supplies and/or expertise to help the people of the U.S., often
described by non-Americans as the most despised nation on Earth.
Put those two concepts together--hated nation and half the
planet help its people.
Even Cuba, which has medical expertise far beyond its economic
status, offered to send doctors to the U.S. to help out.
Venezuela, whose president is well down on the list of popular
personalities for the U.S. administration, offered to send more
oil, since the Gulf refineries were out of commission.
Katrina was the worst natural disaster ever visited on North
America, arguably even on the western hemisphere. When the U.S.
showed itself to be at its most helpless (and in some cases
hopeless), most of the rest of the world--the ones who could
afford to do something--pitched in to help. The Katrina
destruction became a planet-uniting cause.
U.S. media and politicians focus their attention elsewhere now,
but the minds of Americans will change toward the rest of the
world. After 9/11, "others" equaled "enemies." Since Katrina,
"others" equal "strangers that could be friends."
It takes that magnitude of tragedy to change the thinking of a
huge nation. But that tragedy-induced change might alter the
future of our world.
Al Qaida claimed that Allah had wreaked vengeance on the U.S.
for its misdeeds. Everyone else was prepared to come to the aid
of the U.S. in its hour of need. Americans don't forget that
kind of thing.
Within four years we have experienced two turning points in
history. No other people since our species began could make that
claim.
Now we will watch to see if neo-conservatives in the US
continue to degrade the humanity of their nation, if their
"others=enemy" concept is buried or if there is a movement
toward middle ground between liberals and conservatives.
It was the hands of men who brought about the turning point of
history on 9/11. Was the natural disaster called Katrina just
coincidence? Whether coincidence or not, Katrina arrived at a
remarkably convenient time, when the world needed it most.
Contact Bill Allin:
(705) 657 - 9468
http://billallin.com/cgi/index.pl
turningitaround@sympatico.ca
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/turningitaround
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