OPINION:
The tsunami that hit Japan has saddened the world. The country is facing its largest disaster since World War II. Yet Japan’s citizens remain calm and strong (“Prime minister vows ’to risk life’ as he takes control in quake crisis,” Geopolitics, Wednesday).
Let’s compare the terrible events in Japan with Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans in 2005. Although the tsunami that struck Japan was hundreds of times more destructive than what happened in Louisiana, the Japanese remain resilient and composed. In New Orleans during the flooding, some residents looted businesses and homes, committed murders and rapes and refused to heed evacuation orders. The Japanese, on the other hand, have not looted or committed any violent crimes - instead lining up in an orderly fashion for water and other rations.
One can only admire the Japanese for facing this disaster with such self-control. American citizens could learn a lesson from them about how to behave in a disaster.
MARK G. KILYK
Philadelphia
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