I Told Ya So, and So Did a Lot of Others

When pondering on disaster relief, it is helpful to know what natural disasters we should prepare for.

War is hardly natural, and we seem to always be on the brink of it somewhere in the world, so I ignore it.

There are two major issues to deal with: How big might it be, and what are the chances of it happening. A crude break down of “how big” is Local vs Global.
Here is the list off the top of my head (Disaster; Size, Probability):

• Asteroid/Meteor (Big); Global; Very Low                            
• Asteroid/Meteor (Small);  Local; Low
• Hurricanes;  Local but large, and mostly over water… mostly; High
• Tornadoes; Local; High
• Floods (the most dangerous on this list, save one); Local; High (depending on location)
• Earthquakes; Local; Medium (depending on location)
• Tsunamis; Global, restrained to coasts; Medium (depending on location)
• Fires; Local; High (depending on location)
• Famine, Drought; Local; High (and getting higher)
• Rain of Toads, Second Coming etc; Global; Zero

And, of course: Pandemic; Global, High

Only “Pandemic” stands out. It has the potential to go global; AND since it has happened in the past (Spanish Flu, Swine Flu, SARS), and, due largely to air travel, is more likely to happen in the future…  the probability is high.

Covid 19 was not unlucky, it was inevitable. A moments thought, which is about as much as I put into this piece, will convince anyone that the smart money should go to prevention of pandemics.

Therefore, ergo, ipso facto, and thus, Donald Trump disbanded the pandemic teams, cut the budget for the CDC and tried to build a wall to keep out Mexicans. He has turned recklessness into an art form. Of course, he did not create C19, but he has, and is, making it much worse.

I always want to end on a happy thought. This can be fixed.

​1) Reduce the number of people on the planet by 3 billion at least;
2) Reduce the number of Donald Trumps by one (ideally, remove the whole family tree); and
3) Stop treating every square inch of the planet as a tourist destination.
 
Lee Moller