Japanese catastrophe - earthquake and tsunami

Earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

It is heartbreaking to watch the catastrophe in Japan. Many hundreds of people are already confirmed dead, it looks like this number will reach thousands and already hundreds of thousands are homeless. Nuclear reactors are in danger with at least two already overheating. People in the vicinity of these reactors are receiving as much radiation in an hour as they would normally receive from the environment in one year. We await more information.

But we can make a few comments already. Nuclear power cannot be safe. Capitalism and before that Stalinism have both used it and use it extensively. Any sane society would end it. A democratic socialist world amongst all the other clean up after capitalism and Stalinism jobs it will have to do will have to close down and deal with the after affects of nuclear power. Not only did capitalism and Stalinism build nuclear power with all its inherent dangers but it build plants where it was most profitable and in the case of Stalinism the most cheap. They did not care whether they were on earthquake fault lines or not. On the basis of capitalism many catastrophes await. One is the nuclear pollution of the planet.

We have to also ask why there are so many natural disasters now, so more than in the past. Especially so much of an increase in hurricanes and tornadoes and the over heating of the planet. It seems impossible that this is not related to the destruction of the planet and the atmosphere which has been brought about by capitalism and Stalinism.

We on this blog believe that on the basis of capitalism continuing life on the planet as we know it will be destroyed. On a capitalist basis from environmental damage and or nuclear war the earth will become a cinder inhabited only by insects. This is why we campaign for a democratic socialist world. It is either international socialist or the destruction of the planet.

Sean.