Taking Advantage of Disasters
On May 3, 2018, the Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii began actively spewing hot lava into the air, putting thousands of lives in danger. The fast-moving lava destroyed 75 homes so far, and is spreading towards other neighborhoods. The lava flow also covered a section of Highway 132 on the Big Island, making it harder for residents still in the area to evacuate. Cell phone and landline communications in the Kapoho area were severely limited due to down power and telephone lines, according to Civil Defense officials. Residents are also concerned with the amount of lava leaking into the ocean. The amount of lava particles being released into the air has made it extremely dangerous to the citizens on the island. The government has issued a warning to leave the area as soon as possible to prevent as little tragedies as possible. Not only is the explosion harmful to humans, but also the crops that farmers have been cultivating for years. Animals and produce are at risk as well, which could harm the island’s economic status.
The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein focuses on how the government takes advantage of a disaster situation and turns it into an economic project for the community. The government uses these disastrous situations and overlooks all the tragedies that have occurred and forces the citizens to move on with their lives and look towards the future of the community. Many people have taken this movement to a personal level and have continued to criticize the government for their actions. For example, Klein explains how the government used the disaster situation of the Mississippi Flood in 1927 to raise funds in order to build charter school. The funding does not go to the people directly. They use the money in order to rebuild the community for its appearances.
The situation of the volcano eruption on Big Island can be compared to Naomi Klein’s writing. She focuses more on the perspective after the disaster and how the government responds to such a tragedy. However, the current event of the volcano has not been long enough for the government to respond in such way. A similar situation is Hurricane Katrina, which was a topic that we touched on in class earlier in the quarter. After the hurricane hit, the government immediately used all the funding from the situation not to help the citizens affected, but the landscape that was destroyed. Many people were criticizing this action taken by the government thinking that they could have spared some money to give back to rebuild homes and help families survive after having everything they owned destroyed in the disaster.
