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Moiraine · 09-19-2003, 05:40 AM

15 000 deaths !

Not from terrorism. Not in a war. Not in a faraway country. Not during Middle Age. It happened here and now, in France, this summer : 15 000 old people died from the heat wave that spread over Europe this summer.

Worse is, I tried to find an article in English to quote here,but I couldn't find any. Well, I found small articles saying how bad the heat wave has been and that some old people died, but not a single one saying how dreadful the number of deaths has been !

They were all old people. Are they less 'people' ? The 9/11 event resulted in half that number of deaths, and yet it is considered a major historical event. What is it that makes these deaths less dreadful ?

This didn't happen everywhere in Europe. All European countries have suffered from the heat wave, and most of them registred a few hundred extra deaths, but France has got the appalling record.

Significantly, France also has the record of the fewer rate of people working on the care for old persons. One wonders why so many people are unemployed and yet when the heat wave struck there was a huge shortage of people taking care of our elders. One wonders in what kind of society we choose to live, where you are let out as son as you are no longer 'profitable'.

Our President and our Prime Minister didn't bother come back from their summer vacation when many hospital doctors raised the alarm. Our Government waited several days after they were aware of the dangers, to finally launch an emergency plan. Then after the disater happened, they tried to say they had not been told (! Not been told ! What is 'responsibility' all about ?

), and then they tried to hide the figures. And they proficiently accused the people of selfishness, for not having been attentive to their old neighbours. And as a logical consequence, since people are constantly told to run after more efficiency, more profitability, and can not spare time for simple human cares ... they plan to remove a national holiday so the profits or this additional day will be given to old people care. Makes a lot of sense - since the race for profit doesn't leave us enough free time to care about our neighbours, let's run some more.

I am ashamed of my country. I am ashamed of the society we choose to live in.

What do you think about it ? Did you learn about it in the news ? What do you suggest we do about it ?

09-19-2003, 05:40 AM	#1
Moiraine Anubis Join Date: March 1, 2001 Location: Up in the Freedomland Alps Age: 61 Posts: 2,474	15 000 deaths ! Not from terrorism. Not in a war. Not in a faraway country. Not during Middle Age. It happened here and now, in France, this summer : 15 000 old people died from the heat wave that spread over Europe this summer. Worse is, I tried to find an article in English to quote here,but I couldn't find any. Well, I found small articles saying how bad the heat wave has been and that some old people died, but not a single one saying how dreadful the number of deaths has been ! They were all old people. Are they less 'people' ? The 9/11 event resulted in half that number of deaths, and yet it is considered a major historical event. What is it that makes these deaths less dreadful ? This didn't happen everywhere in Europe. All European countries have suffered from the heat wave, and most of them registred a few hundred extra deaths, but France has got the appalling record. Significantly, France also has the record of the fewer rate of people working on the care for old persons. One wonders why so many people are unemployed and yet when the heat wave struck there was a huge shortage of people taking care of our elders. One wonders in what kind of society we choose to live, where you are let out as son as you are no longer 'profitable'. Our President and our Prime Minister didn't bother come back from their summer vacation when many hospital doctors raised the alarm. Our Government waited several days after they were aware of the dangers, to finally launch an emergency plan. Then after the disater happened, they tried to say they had not been told (! Not been told ! What is 'responsibility' all about ? ), and then they tried to hide the figures. And they proficiently accused the people of selfishness, for not having been attentive to their old neighbours. And as a logical consequence, since people are constantly told to run after more efficiency, more profitability, and can not spare time for simple human cares ... they plan to remove a national holiday so the profits or this additional day will be given to old people care. Makes a lot of sense - since the race for profit doesn't leave us enough free time to care about our neighbours, let's run some more. I am ashamed of my country. I am ashamed of the society we choose to live in. What do you think about it ? Did you learn about it in the news ? What do you suggest we do about it ? __________________ [img]\"http://grumble.free.fr/img/romuald.gif\" alt=\" - \" /><br /><br />The missing link between ape and man is us.