ninme

But people seem to be rather…irritated by this AP article:

Tsunami Reverts Beaches to Natural State

PATONG BEACH, Thailand - Many believe the tsunami that devastated this tourist hotspot and killed thousands had one positive side: By washing away rampant development, it returned the beaches to nature.

Michelle Malkin says:

Yeah, with the minor exception of all those dead bodies of men, women, and children who were killed on the shores of your now-”pristine” beaches. What a selfish pig.

And I can see how comments about capitalism really don’t belong, but there is something to be said for the ah, productive power of a huge disaster like this. Let’s remember that for 60 years since WWII, it was considered horrible for the environment to let wildfires burn. All the environmentalists couldn’t handle the sight of their precious trees burning, so they refused to let them burn. Now there’s a huge pine beetle problem in the Canadian Rockies, and huge wildfires, much worse than normal, went sweeping through two summers ago, causing massive devastation, the combination of which will look a lot worse a lot longer. Plus it just isn’t healthy to keep the forest from burning.

But the point is that fire was considered a negative thing, it destroys nature. When in reality nature needs it. Tsunamis are a natural event. And even if the palm trees start to die because their roots suck up nothing but seawater, it’s not a disaster to nature. Only to humans. Which is why other humans should endeavor to keep this to themselves while the survivors continue to mourn. Or at least couch it in scientific terms, and not compare a third world beach to a first world beach, now that the wave has taken away all the ickiness of the locals. That’s just a bit uncalled for.

“Everyone is talking about it. It looks much better now,” he said. “This looks a lot more like Hawaii now…”

And speaking of Hawaii, let’s remind ourselves that palm trees are not native. Let’s also remind ourselves how much of the islands were torn up to make way for sugar plantations. Let’s continue to remind ourselves that we find the islands beautiful because we are used to seeing them that way. But that is not their natural state. Let’s remind ourselves further that the beaches are clear of vendors because those vendors do not require the pittance gained from being further down the beach to feed their families. Let’s remind ourselves that we can afford to enjoy the beaches of Hawaii because we don’t need to tear down any more of the natural ecosystem to survive. I continue to say that these people should be thankful that the Thai vendors are there on the beaches, or else they would be tearing down the precious rain forest to plant some entirely un-native species of food source.