With so much misery happening in the world at the moment, maybe it is time to get things in perspective and put aside at least for a day writing yet another article about the US elections. The greatest tragedy at the moment seems to be the devastation the cyclone that hit Myanmar last Saturday has caused in that country. It has been said that about 100,000 could have died, a horrific figure that unless aid is brought fast to the survivors will surely increase. And there lies the problem: while a UN plane carrying relief supplies for hundreds of thousands of victims waited on the tarmac, it was only several hours before that the junta ruling the country did allow this aid into the country. In the twenty first century, people die unnecessarily due to the whims of dictators while powerful countries seem powerless to do anything about it.

While nature creates havoc in Asia, human greed for power does it in Africa. The anarchy and violence that has been the result of the Zimbabwe elections, is increasing as the militia in the command of President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party continues rampaging in the country. Their latest attack on supporters of the Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change ended with eleven beaten to death and at least 20 more people in hospital.

Politics also have been the cause of the clash between Sunnis and Shiites in these last days in Lebanon. The violence between the Sunni supporters of the Lebanese government and the Shia supporters of Hizbullah has spread from Beirut to other parts of the country. A country that until the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) was known as the “Switzerland of the East” due to its financial power, and as “Paris of Western Asia” for the luxurious and relaxed life which attracted large numbers of tourists.

As this is taking place in Lebanon, next to it Israel is celebrating this month the 60th anniversary of is foundation. But all is not peaceful and joyous there either, the feeling of insecurity is intense. The Palestine problem, created at the formation of Israel is far from being resolved. And while the Israelis are celebrating this date, the Palestinians view it with sorrow and despair. Too many dead and injured, too many prisoners added to the frustrations of years of on-and-off peace talks with Israel, Palestinians are losing hope for an independent homeland, and some are proposing something totally different: a shared state with equal rights for Palestinians and Jews. The current U.S.-backed peace talks are dismissed as ineffectual. There seems to be a small but growing number of moderate Palestinians that believe that they could gain more if a single democratic state combining Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza strip were combined that with the proposed Israel’s terms for independence. But the situation is far from being solved and there may be still many casualties created by a misguided decision 60 years ago.

Leaving the Middle East, nature has caused yet another catastrophe. This time in South America with the eruption of the volcano Cheiten in Chile. Dormant for thousands of years, it erupted last week shooting ash in the stratosphere and forcing the evacuation of that remote part of the Chilean Patagonia about 750 miles south of Santiago, the capital. The town of 4,400 people is now deserted and the ash is being carried all the way to Argentina. A sure tragedy in the lives of many people who not only have been displaced but have lost all their possessions.

And these are just but some of the tragedies around the world.

Related posts:

1. World tragedy from Myanmar to Chile