Monday, October 24, 2011

Living in the Land of Death



by Fukushima Diary
http://fukushima-diary.com/2011/10/living-in-the-land-of-death/

This is an incredibly sad post by Fukushima Diary. It reminds me strongly of the book On the Beach, that I read recently.

In the book, the citizens of Australia await a certain death, which will be inevitably blown in on the winds. The Australians attempt to maintain the rhythms of daily life in the face of their imminent death. However, the "normality" of daily life is punctuated by brief instances of madness and terror.

In the Fukushima Diary's tale, the citizens of a contaminated town also struggle to preserve normality in the face of uncertainty.

Death for them is not imminent, but hides in unknown locations ready to spring up and embrace the unwary with a debilitating illness (radiation sickness, cancer, circulatory disease) capable of stealing life more slowly, but just as effectively. 

In this town there is no confidence that the innocence of everyday locales and objects is authentic. Every space and every item could be an instrument of death.

Could it be that the reign of Death unleashed by Fukushima is not restricted to this town, or even Japan? Could it be that Death has expanded his terrain to include much of North America as well?

Death is patient and need not kill with a single blow, but instead savors the slow accumulation of poison in his unwary subjects. 

We are all Death's subjects, but usually he is content to allow us a period of grace before claiming his sovereignty.

But we have violated the terms of our grace by knocking on his door.
http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/nuclear-power-knocking-on-devils-door.html




1 comment:

  1. WE didn't just knock on his door, built a door opener, rigged up a blast siren, and when he came to the door, we also whipped him the bird in our arrogance to turn matter into energy

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