I was brought up attending Catholic schools during the Cold War, fearing worldwide nuclear war and radioactivity, and came of age just as the birth control pill and the Army draft were playing a huge part in our daily lives. Those days shook what I understood then as my faith in authority and I came to believe strongly in what now seems almost a Tea Party sentiment, expressed by Benjamin Franklin: God helps those who help themselves.
I believe in finding a balance between being informed and placing trust with responsible authority, between planning and in accepting both random acts of kindness and of natural destruction (even if we’re talking about human nature).
At BullWings: Orcas Issues, we are committed to delivering community journalism: the daily, rational, civil and considered information and discussion of issues that affect our island community, which of course is composed of smaller, interdependent communities.
And so, in the gloomy information we are getting about Japan’s failed nuclear power plants and the possibilities of radiation spreading eastward, we’ve provided information immediately from the County Department of Emergency Management, with links to the State Department of Health and the International Atomic Energy Agency, World Nuclear News and the U.S. Center for Disease Control.
On this bright March day, with an historic full moon about to shine down on our beautiful island after a cold and rainy winter, I’m more inclined to listen to government and agency voices that advise a “wait-and-see” attitude. I remember the story of the villagers on Kodiak Island who fled to the hills in fear of a tsunami that never came after the Good Friday earthquake of 1964; several of them died of exposure.
But yet… experience also tells me that the worst sometimes does happen. And others on the island are more convinced that we must protect ourselves from the radiation that they feel is headed our way. What is a measured response to such warnings?
And so, we will post informed pieces with differing perspectives on the likelihood of radiation affecting our island life, with the familiar caution that we are all in this together, advising each other about the best course of action and the dangers of panic. But we must all individually make the decision of whose advice to follow, whom do we trust, and what must be done with the knowledge we now have.
The “prayer” of Alcoholic Anonymous is never more apt:
God grant me
the serenity to accept the things I cannot change
the courage to change the things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference
In the end, with the benefit of a thoughtful, informed and caring community, we must make our own decisions about how we plan and take responsibility for both the near future and the long term.
Nicely written, Margie. Your intelligence and thoughtfulness are always appreciated. I’m sure I’m not alone in my reading here.
An “aside”, I guess. Short of 2 years ago, I had a “coronary event” that brought me to a cardiac clinic for a nuclear stress test – my choice instead of an angiogram. I am quite certain that the amount of radiactive material in my bloodstream was far far greater than whatever the West Coast will experience, at least in the short run. I was very ill for nearly a month afterwards – I had radiation poisoning, no matter what the so-called medical “experts” tell us is safe or acceptable. Something to think about. Our attention needs to get off this topic and back to our fellow Beings in pain and suffering.
Margie,
Congratulations on a thoughtful and eloquent editorial.
We’re all in this together.
Dear Margie: Thank you for your lovely Editorial! It reminds me of what newspapers and their Editors USED TO BE! Giving the facts of BOTH sides of an issue, then letting people make up their Own minds about it! I really miss that and am happy to know that we have it here! Blessings and Peace, Spirit Eagle
I wholeheartedly agree. I was in high school during the Cuban missile crisis, and that was terrifying. What we see now–apart from the tragic losses and damage inflicted upon the people of japan–is an incredible focus on “us”–it’s apparently not a network media story unless it describes OUR exposure. We’ve stopped watching the news media, which seem intent on headlines and sound bites suggesting nuclear catastrophe, only to be followed (much later) but the real story: nothing is threatening us.