The recent natural disasters in Myanmar and China highlight the devastation that such events can bring. And, despite the political and bureaucratic roadblocks, they have, once again, demonstrated an outpouring of global support that occurs in all of these situations.
Natural catastrophes, monstrous, unpredictable and unpreventable, are especially unsettling to the human psyche. Though they have often struck "developing countries" in the recent past, we all know that many of our modernized, populous regions are also prone to these events, whether they be earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, wildfires or massive storms. Though we can mitigate their effects to some degree, we are essentially helpless in the face of nature's most powerful forces. And, when we eventually face a global crisis, triggered by an asteroid strike or other devastating event, the survival of our species will depend upon a degree of cooperation that will make artificial human boundaries insignificant.
Major natural disasters are humbling events and remind us that wealth, power and prestige cannot protect us from their wrath. They are the great equalizers on this planet.
