Why Doesn't the World Care About Pakistanis? Because they live in Pakistan.

foreignpolicy.com

3 pointslallysingh2 comments

The articles says this is a bigger disaster than the 2004 tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, and the 2010 Haiti earthquake combined.

Maybe in area or property damage it is bigger, but in deaths the floods are around 2000. The earthquakes were each in the 80-100 range, and the tsunami 230k. I would guess that has a lot to do with it.

Indeed. I found the premise of the article to be wanting for the same reason. I mean, what's the more complex explanation: We don't treat the Pakistani floods on an equal measure with other disasters because we (the international community) dislike Pakistan? Or is it that the Pakistani disaster just hasn't had as much reporting and coverage?

I was in India as of a week ago. Even there, where Pakistan is both mentally and physically closer, the floods were barely getting any coverage at all. The news was dominated by a corruption scandal in the Organizing Committee for the Commonwealth Games. If the floods can't get coverage in India, what makes you think that they'd get anything other a single paragraph buried deep in the newspaper here?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com