The tragedy of the tsunami
At last we have an account of the effects of the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami that does not dwell on the subsequent nuclear accident at Fukushima but instead focuses on the tragedy of lives lost (The school beneath the raging wave, 29 September). The story is heartbreaking in its description of how the children of Okawa elementary school died in the tsunami and tells how the local authorities were heavily criticised for failing to protect the schoolchildren and were penalised in a lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Tepco, the owners of the nuclear plant, continue to be criticised for having a sea wall that was too small to stop the “raging wave” and safety systems that were inadequate to prevent the release of radioactivity.
Still, no one died at Fukushima, and the damage and personal loss the accident have caused look insignificant besides the 18,000 or so people who died from the tsunami, all no doubt having tragic stories of their own. Why, then, do the inadequate sea walls and poor warning systems at those inundated coastal communities excite so much less attention than the nuclear plant? Why do we agitate for plants around the world to be shut down because of the dangers from tsunamis, however unlikely, yet neglect to push for sea walls to be built? Why do we never seem able to balance the risks?
Derek Lister
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Stop worshipping Apple
I’ve read some unusual articles in the Guardian Weekly over the years, but not one as unusual as that by John Harris about Apple, committing heresy as an iPhone user, by admitting that Apple devices might not always be perfect (22 September).
I have always thought of Apple owners (who include close friends and my partner) as belonging to some quasi-religious cult, with their deity Steve Jobs, who laid down the original gospel for Apple worshippers. Their creed that Apple is the greatest manifestation of digital technology, and that their products should be worshipped, is absolutely unaffected by the fact that Apple is among the biggest tax avoiders in the US and Steve Jobs was no philanthropist like Bill Gates.
Yes, there are other huge IT companies that avoid tax but not at the same scale as Apple, thus depriving many nations of revenue that could be put to good social use. Even those who maintain the highest moral code by being vegetarians or social activists are in thrall to the cult of Apple. John Harris, join the rest of us who refuse to be iSheep.
Nigel Hungerford
Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia
• It was with commiseration, not schadenfreude, that I smiled reading John Harris’s critique of Apple’s latest iPhone. For many years my kids have cheerfully regarded me as an idiot (I entered my dotage in my 40s) because of my frustration about and incompetence with iPhones. The photo of Harris accompanying his column shows he is about the same age as my kids, making me smilingly confident that they too will soon join the Apple Frustration Club. Commiseration, with a twist of “Now you know what it feels like”.
Bob Walsh
Wilton, Connecticut, US
Many suffered in Myanmar
In discussing human rights in Myanmar, I never understood the sole focus on Aung San Suu Kyi (George Monbiot, 15 September). Under house arrest in her palatial home and gardens, playing the piano, listening to the BBC, meditating, tending the garden and speaking to hundreds of supporters over the fence: it sounded like a retreat to me.
I recall reading of the “deprivation” she suffered as the old house she lived in could not be repaired, while countless democracy campaigners in that benighted land suffered horrendous torture and years of solitary confinement in abysmal conditions in Insein prison. What happened to those poor folk?
Richard Abram
Marrickville, NSW, Australia
We must rescue the UN
We need to go beyond “cherishing” the United Nations, as your leader column suggests (29 September). When we cherish things we tend to put them on a pedestal, tie them up with ribbon or stick them in a display cabinet. The UN demands a far more radical kind of love.
We as global citizens have allowed hubristic politicians to manipulate the UN so that its fundamental purpose, to engender and maintain peace through cooperation, is all but emasculated. We need to find a way of renewing its mission, enabling it to rid itself of ideological posturing that has become the norm and of which Donald Trump is just one example.
Which countries will have the courage to challenge the status quo to ensure that everyone can thrive in an eternally uncertain future?
Neil Blackshaw
Barbizon, France
Briefly
• “A decade ago … the worst recession in living memory”, says your short piece about the US Federal Reserve (Finance, 29 September). Excuse me, whose “living memory”? Though your young writers may not believe it, I and many others born in the 1920s are still living and still have memories of something worse: the Great Depression of the 1930s, memories that include homeless and jobless men knocking at the back door to beg our mothers for something to eat.
Patricia Clarke
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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