The Burmese Are Resilient

Relief workers in Myanmar now admit, their fears that the citizens of that country would die from disease and starvation caused by the horrible cyclone, were unfounded. The Burmese managed to find a way to survive:

U.N. agencies and private humanitarian groups agree a feared second wave of post-cyclone casualties did not take place. And barriers the junta put in the way of foreign aid appears not to have caused a measurable increase in deaths from illness and lack of food.

Burma's government said this week that a survey undertaken jointly with the U.N. and the regional Association of Southeast Asia Nations found no post-cyclone deaths related to lack of assistance, though the findings are preliminary.

"They weren't just waiting around for help to come and bemoaning their fate, they were going out and picking up the pieces of their thatch houses, and they were starting to rebuild," said Brooks. "This idea of disaster survivors being helpless victims is just simply not true. These are some of the most resilient people that you'll ever meet."

I heard one relief agency say that post-cyclone disease and hunger were going to claim another million lives. That's a far cry from zero people dying from hunger and disease.

Compare how the citizens of Burma reacted to this cyclone to how the people of New Orleans reacted to Katrina, it's almost embarrassing. The Burmese immediately started getting their lives back in order. They helped one another and rebuilt. The Burmese didn't find it necessary to hang around the Best Western for three years, sucking on the welfare teat, ordering room service and complaining that their President hates people with slanted eyes.

I suppose the Burmese aren't lazy, shiftless complainers who are scared of a hard days work. They know that for themselves and their families to survive, they can only help themselves. Many citizens of New Orleans, including the State and Federal gov't's should read this article.