Cronyism, Laziness, and Indifference in the Palace
I’ve been reading Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2015. The book contains a series of remembrances from people who were affected by the 1986 explosion and nuclear fire at the Chernobyl power plant in what was then the Soviet Union.
(Yes, yes. I know what you’re thinking. You aren’t the only one. I was reading the book while waiting in the exam room for my medical practitioner—the professional who recently treated me for acute anxiety related to societal events beyond my control. When she came in and saw the title, she raised an eyebrow. “Just a little light reading,”I explained. Actually, after reading a novel about children orphaned by the nuclear disaster, I just wanted some background. I might not finish it… )
On the very first page, in the translator’s preface, this sentence struck a nerve: “…And it’s certainly true that Chernobyl, while an accident in the sense that no one intentionally set it off, was also the deliberate product of a culture of cronyism, laziness and a deep-seated indifference toward the general population.”
While we might be tempted to dismiss the “accident” at Chernobyl—the worst nuclear disaster in history—as an isolated event, or the logical outcome of the “cronyism” that our nation often ascribes to the USSR, to do so is missing the big picture.
California is on fire. As of this writing, at least 28 people have died, 17,000 structures have been destroyed, and tens of thousands of people have been forced from their homes. But our new president declared he wants to withhold federal assistance. Or at least tie political strings to any funds distributed, like mandating the institution of voter ID laws.
This same president threw paper towels to victims of Hurricane Maria in 2017. So they could mop up the mess? I lost my home to Hurricane Katrina. Paper towels were the last thing on my list.
Our president did not technically cause the fire or the hurricane, although his contention that climate change is “one of the great scams of all time” will ultimately exacerbate the effects of these phenomena. And to be sure, his responses to both events display “a deep-seated indifference toward the general population.”
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, as the area affected by the nuclear disaster is known, remains one of the more radioactive places in the world. Prior to the nuclear accident, the 1600 square mile area (an area larger than the state of Rhode Island) was home to somewhere between 115,000 and 350,000 people. (The reported data vary.) All were evacuated, and it became illegal to live in in the exclusion zone—although a handful of people defied the authorities and went “home.” It will reportedly take 20,000 years for the land to become truly habitable again.
While wildfires and hurricanes won’t render our land radioactive (at least not until such an event crosses a nuclear power plant), every year thousands of people are killed by these disasters—whether directly or indirectly—and tens of thousands are rendered homeless. Rebuilding is not always an option. And even when it’s possible, some folks decline—for fear of losing their homes all over again. I’m one of them.
Unless the citizenry keep a very close watch on the “cronyism, laziness and… deep-seated indifference toward the general population” that occurs in our governmental palaces, we could well find ourselves with a series of American “exclusion zones.” Keep your eyes peeled.
(And I’ll try to find some lighter reading.)