Thomas Sowell: Two earthquakes -

Townhall.com ^ | December 30, 2003 | Thomas Sowell

[UnklGene]

Two earthquakes -

Thomas Sowell (archive) December 30, 2003

Within a week of each other, two earthquakes struck on opposite sides of the world -- an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale in California and a 6.6 earthquake in Iran. But, however similar the earthquakes, the human costs were enormously different.

The deaths in Iran have been counted in the tens of thousands. In California, the deaths did not reach double digits. Why the difference? In one word, wealth.

Wealth enables homes, buildings and other structures to be built to withstand greater stresses. Wealth permits the creation of modern transportation that can quickly carry people to medical facilities. It enables those facilities to be equipped with more advanced medical apparatus and supplies, and amply staffed with highly trained doctors and support staff.

Those who disdain wealth as crass materialism need to understand that wealth is one of the biggest life-saving factors in the world. As an economist in India has pointed out, "95 percent of deaths from natural hazards occur in poor countries."

You can see the effect of wealth by looking at the same country at different times. The biggest hurricane to hit the United States was hurricane Andrew in 1998 but it took fewer than 50 lives. Yet another hurricane, back in 1900, took at least 6,000 lives in Galveston.

The difference was that the United States was a much richer country in 1998. It had earlier warning from more advanced weather tracking equipment. It had better roads and more cars in which to evacuate before the hurricane struck, as well as more and better equipment for digging victims out of debris, and better medical treatment available for those who needed it.

Those who preen themselves on their "compassion" for the poor, and who disdain wealth, are being inconsistent, if not hypocritical. Wealth is the only thing that can prevent poverty. However, if you are not trying to prevent poverty but to exploit it for political purposes, that is another story.

There is another side to the story of these two earthquakes and their consequences. It gives the lie to the dogma being propagandized incessantly, from the schools to the media, that one culture is just as good as another.

It is just as good to lose tens of thousands of lives as not to? What hogwash! It is just as good to lack modern medicine, modern transportation, and modern industry as it is to have them? Who is kidding whom?

This dogmatism prevails at home as well as internationally. Cultures that lead to most children being born to single mothers are just as good as cultures where children grow up with two parents -- if you believe the dogma.

Facts say the opposite. Whether it is education, crime, or poverty, there are huge differences between single-parent families and two-parent families. Even race doesn't make as much difference in outcomes. The poverty rate among black married couples is in single digits. The infant mortality rate among black married women with only a high school diploma is lower than the infant mortality rate among white unmarried women who have been to college.

None of this makes a dent in those who promote the big lie that one culture is just as good as another. What does it even mean to say that? Does it mean that facts fit the dogma? Or does it just mean that they choose to use words in a certain way? It may not make any difference in their theories, but only in the real world.

None of this means that one culture is better than another for all purposes. The cheap vulgarity and brutal ugliness of so much of our media is a legitimate complaint at home and abroad. The sheer silliness of our fad-ridden public schools is a national disgrace.

By the same token, cultures that are less advanced in some ways often have contributions to make in other ways. We all take different things from different cultures to create our own personal lifestyles. We need to stop pretending that it makes no difference when all the facts show that it makes a huge difference, from poverty to matters of life and death.

[steveyp]

No. Our giant Buddas are shopping in the Walmart Superstore. (And traversing it with the electric shopping scooters provided by Sam Walton, et al.).

[RightWhale]

Iranians should be very wealthy

Yes, indeed. Iraq, too. Iraq is on the right track now, but one would think that Persians, smart as they are, would not wait any longer to take matters into their own hands. Afghanistan was wealthy once, and, if they get it together, should also be wealthy again. When Musharraf of Pakistan pointed out education as one of the keys to digging Pakistan out of its economic malaise, all the other countries in that part of the world should have seen that he is right and begun to change their systems fundamentally. It can be done even if it means walking all over those who want to keep the people down for some, probably unrealizable, spiritual gain in the next life.

[DannyTN]

Wealth certainly plays a role. But there is something to be said about building techniques and earthquake precautions.

My guess is that probably as many lives were loss due to negligence in building design as were loss due to wealth.

I saw one article that said the buildings weren't built according to even the local codes. This implies they knew what to do, but just didn't do it.

[ElkGroveDan]

Sorry but his thesis is ridiculous. This Iranian city was built of mud brick a VERY VERY long time ago........is he suggesting it ought to have been leveled and rebuilt to modern specifications?

I have news for you, Paso Robles California WAS built from mud brick (adobe) long ago too. Wealthy people tore those buildings down over time and replaced them with modern sheer-paneled, steel reinforced foundation housing.

(As a footnote the two deaths occurred from the collapse of an unreinforced masonry clock tower dating back to the 1890s -- the kind of construction that killed all those Iranians)

The Iranians would have done the same thing over time too, if they had a thriving capitalist society as long as we have.

[Taliesan]

If it was your mud hut, and you were wealthy, you would have been living somewhere else while storing your lawnmower in the hut. Not because someone passed a law requiring your hut to levelled and re-built, but because you don't have to live there if you have more money.

Difference between cultures: family dead, or lawnmower dead.

Then again, I feel silly explaining this.

[CyberCowboy777]

someone needs to check my history on this but I think the mass population centers in Iran are relatively new construction from the early 20th.

I know a lot of old buildings are around (ones that have survived more than a few earthquakes - this is a common earthquake area) but these homes are newer construction by very poor people.

[altura]

But don't go today ... I just got back (I forgot kids are still out of school)

Major ear damage.

[DannyTN]

As much as we might hate to admit it. This is a strong argument in favor of safety regulations like building codes.

No doubt the libertarian sect of freepers would rather have the roof cave in on them, than to put up with the slightest regulation. However, there is a balance. Some level of regs is good and perhaps that's nowhere better demonstrated than in an instance like this.

[U S Army EOD]

But if we had a powerful quake in a large city, we would loose a lot of people also. Like they said most of the buildings were built a long, long, time ago. Which means they stayed around for a pretty long time in an earthquake prone area.

[weaponeer]

Sorry but his thesis is ridiculous. This Iranian city was built of mud brick a VERY VERY long time ago........is he suggesting it ought to have been levelled and rebuilt to modern specifications?

If the people living in them don't want to die in earthquakes.........

[EggsAckley]

Q: How come Afghanistan doesn't have any WalMarts?



A: Because there's a Target on every corner.


sorry, couldn't resist.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Those are not Buddhas those are Phat people.

[CyberCowboy777]

The Loma Prieta (6.9) caused 63 deaths, 3,757 injuries, and an estimated $6 billion in property damage. It was the largest earthquake to occur on the San Andreas fault since the great San Francisco earthquake in April 1906.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Target. I'd make my own stuff before I'd shop there. I went into a Target once, dang near had a panic attack. Walmarts scare me from a distance.

[CyberCowboy777]

The SF quake (7.8 - 1906) caused an estimated 3,000 deaths and $524 million in property loss. Damage in San Francisco resulting only from the earthquake was estimated at $20 million; outside the city, it was estimated at $4 million. The sensible duration of the shaking in San Francisco was about 1 minute.

[RinaseaofDs]

Um, that's what happens in free market countries. I thank my God that some of the old 70's style Safeway stores here in the West have been razed and replaced with much newer and more classically styled architectual looks.

That's his whole point. They wouldn't be living in old mud-brick buildings if it were a wealthy country.

We still have old buildings in the US too, some that we preserve for historical reasons. We just don't feel it necessary to preserve ALL the old buildings.

His thesis has merit. I was thinking about all of this the other day. Even a volcanic explosion like Mount St. Helen's would probably not take as many lives as it did in 1980 for all of the reasons he is stating.

[It's me]

A an excellent article!

[EggsAckley]

I've never been in a WalMart, since our little county has managed to keep them from coming here. Stuck with Target. And you almost have to be bi-lingual to shop at our Target.

[cake_crumb]

THAT is a good article.

For what it's worth, some Iranian papers are saying basically the same thing. Three differnt editorials in three different papers accuse the government of being responsible for the substandard housing that caused so many deaths. Peopel are demanding the government take responsibility for screwing up the rescue and relief efforts and implimant change. There have been no arrests yet, but expect them to come.

Iranians were not fooled by Khatemi's and Khameni's joint crocodile tear show of feeling their pain.

Khatemi appealed for people to donate to a government fund which he said was to help the injured and homeless.

Instead, Iranians are donating to PRIVATE funds and/or loading their own vehicles with supples and driving out to Bam to distribute themselves.

The szhizophrenic government of Iran looks to be in trouble.

[cake_crumb]

"This Iranian city was built of mud brick a VERY VERY long time ago........is he suggesting it ought to have been levelled and rebuilt to modern specifications?"

Why shouldn't he? The Iranians are.