Greed, negligence, and tragedy

The lack of warning by Asian officials about the possibility of a tsunami is a sickening reality. One theory, though denied by the Thai government, is that in that country, no warning was given because of fears of hurting the tourism industry. There is scant reason to believe the Thai government's denial, since the probability of a major natural disaster was very small, and the probability of ruining a major industry was significant.

But even if the failure to warn was due to sheer bad judgment--as it doubtless was in non-tourist destinations--it was still unconscionable. No doubt, many citizens would have used equally poor judgment and chosen to remain in harm's way, but others would have heeded the warning, fled, and saved their lives and the lives of their families.

It is safe to say that no one will be penalized for what amounts to mass negligent homicide. No one ever is. In the United States, we even reward such negligence: The airlines who allowed known terrorists to board planes and attack landmarks on September 11, 2001 were given significant financial aid. No airline official was prosecuted, and the news media spent little time and space discussing the industry's chilling negligence.

In America, people--especially conservatives--love to go on and on about personal responsibility, but when it comes down to actually demanding it from authority figures, the crowds grow silent.