What, if you ask a teenager, caused the fall of the Roman Empire? I ask this mainly because my partner's 13 year old and I discussed spectacle, the bloody gladitorial fights to the death in the Colosseum, as well as the reasons for the declining values and morals in a rich and prosperous culture. There's a whole new facet of learning that comes with age and actually having to rethink my history lessons to have these discussions with him.
Sadly, and ironically the flooding half way around the world struck and the insuing lack of concern the Western hemisphere proved akin to this culture of spectacle over humanity.
Yesterday news of Bangkok's flooding began to creep over the news wires, slowly like the flood itself. The unfortunate seepage of water that according to officials couldn't be stopped, tortured the population as seen in photos of people simply trying to gain access to food and potable water, sitting atop roofs smoking cigarettes and reading, passing the time and hoping for the best. The valley in which thousands of factory workers converge daily now under water and causing tremendous losses to the global tech industry - effecting storage and other components critical for manufacturing the things we take for granted. Prices in kind will likely rise or at least maintain current levels rather than fall for the upcoming holiday season and expect to see demand far higher than supply in the foreseeable future.
Now, the point though isn't to state the obvious - or obvious to those who do not turn away from the pain of others but face the crisis as best we can with our eyes open. What struck me was the lack of coverage on the devastation. While trying to locate some depth on the real breadth of the situation, I noticed that Asia coverage weaker than usual (even ZDNet Asia didn't have any word as of last night's email newsletter.)
CNN: The top three news stories were in third place Kim Kardashian's not so perfect newlywed living arrangement, second most popular hit the latest Rangers baseball update, and the most read by a nose a snippet on the fact that Netflix makes up roughly 1/3 of Internet bandwidth usage. Not one instance of the floods hit the radar of our interest because perhaps it wasn't big enough of a story until this morning. No one could ignore the crisis. UNICEF had only given $300,000 USD to help provide food and potable water by yesterday. Shame on us for enjoying fruits of the labor in Bangkok such as laptops, set top boxes, cheap storage, tablets and smartphones at the expense of foreign workers. Ironic and sad seeing how we view the news of their plight through the very technology their hands help to construct.
This morning finally coverage on the splash page of most news services and with awareness begins the human connection and that will translate to the act of giving. The people of Bangkok have another month or more of living above a flood that they may never recover from in many ways. So perhaps, while using the technology you're using right now which likely contains components made in the factories now rendered uninhabitable, lines down with production at a standstill, give something back and even if it's just posting your connection to people in a country you may never step foot in - and Thailand is beautiful.
You might even reach someone who can donate money or give of themselves to help stave off the suffering, which worsens by the minute. And take the time to really see rather than turning to something more entertaining like the spectacle of a pseudo-celebrity or the baseball score of the day...
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