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MIM Theory 12: Environment, Society, Revolution
Tsunami disaster not natural: imperialism causes death and destr
Lack of Infrastructure Death Toll 32,695 *
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We will include every death among the oppressed nations that would have been statistically less likely if that person were a member of the oppressor nation. This will account for a larger proportion of the death toll than deaths from war and assassination as most deaths caused by imperialism are in the form of health problems from inadequate nutrition and medical care that is widely available in other parts of the world.
According to the World Bank, more than 95% of all deaths caused by disasters occur in developing (Third World) countries; and losses due to natural disasters are 20 times greater (as a percentage of GDP) in developing countries than in imperialist countries. The statistics below are examples of the massive death and suffering faced by the oppressed masses that is somehow deemed "natural" by many, yet is not faced by the wealthy nations of the world.
The death rate between January and June 2006 in the greater New Orleans area was nearly 50 percent higher than pre-Hurricane Katrina rates, due in part to a compromised public health infrastructure after Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, according to a study in the inaugural issue of the AMA journal, Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness.
With a post-Katrina population of over 900,000 in July 2006 (down from 1.3 million), according to the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, that difference in rates from 62.17 to 91.37 would be at least 134 people dead in those 6 months included in the study. Including the months of September through December 2005 and the 150,000 people displaced from New Orleans we can estimate that at least 200 people from the New Orleans area alone died from lack of infrastructure following Hurrican Katrina. This is in addition to the over 1800 deaths during the storm and its immediate aftermath.
*This is only a total of data reported at imperialismkills.org and is not necessarily a complete statisticDeaths Reported
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake triggered Monday's tsunami, which pummeled a 180-kilometer (110-mile) stretch of Java island's southern coast, destroying scores of houses, restaurants and hotels. After reaching inaccessible villages in the region the death toll was raised to 659. While minor compared to the 2004 tsunami, no advances have been made in improving the infrastructure since then, leaving the people of Java unaware and unprepared once again.
Source: Times of India. 22 July 2006
The death rate between January and June 2006 in the greater New Orleans area was nearly 50 percent higher than pre-Hurricane Katrina rates, due in part to a compromised public health infrastructure after Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, according to a study in the inaugural issue of the AMA journal, Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness.
With a post-Katrina population of over 900,000 in July 2006 (down from 1.3 million), according to the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, that difference in rates from 62.17 to 91.37 would be at least 134 people dead in those 6 months included in the study. Including the months of September through December 2005 and the 150,000 people displaced from New Orleans we can estimate that at least 200 people from the New Orleans area alone died from lack of infrastructure following Hurrican Katrina. This is in addition to the over 1800 deaths during the storm and its immediate aftermath.
Source:American Medical Association. 21 June 2007.
Over 1000 villagers are estimated to have been buried alive in a landslide in Guinsaugon, Phillipines.
Officials have admitted that the area has been known to be at risk since last May 2005, demonstrating the culpability of the U$-Arroyo puppet regime in these deaths.
The Phillipines has been seriously denuded of tropical forest by imperialist lumber interests for years, which has resulted in the unstable soils and excessive runoff that led to the landslide. The New People's Army has been at the forefront of the Filipino peasants' struggle to combat illegal logging, mining and other forms of destruction of the land. (for more info see the movies Green Guerriallas and the Golf War).
Source: INQ7.net. 23 February 2006.
Hurricane Katrina
Even in the richest country in the world, national oppresion results in unneccessary deaths and suffery due to a lack of access to resources. The footage from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina was clear; everyone was Black except for the cops. While the death toll from Katrina was likely lower than a similar event in the Third World, investigations into the levees supposed to protect Black neighborhoods reveal that profits and power shaped who was affected and who was killed by the hurricane.
Source: Lindsay, Robert. 27 May 2006.
On January 26, 2001 there was a massive earthquake in the western India state of Gujarat, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale. To date more than 30,000 people have died, and more bodies are being pulled from the wreckage every day. Shoddy construction, poor infrastructure, and policies of profits before people are mainly to blame for the thousands of deaths from this earthquake.
Source: MIM Notes 229. 1 March 2001.