Learn from the past

I just read this interesting article regarding plans for a new skyline for San Francisco. Check it out for yourself – there’s nothing in there even remotely mentioning the 1906 earthquake, or even the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that devastated the Bay Area 20 years ago.

You can glean from this one of two things: that engineering’s gotten so good that we can now embark on such ambitious plans using technologies and materials that didn’t exist 20 or 100 years ago that do not compromise our safety, etc. Environmental concerns are also paramount in terms of combatting sprawl and increasing densities, energy conservation (a serious issue in California), and reducing the need for miles and miles of infrastructure roll-out to support expanding businesses and population.

Or we can glean from the fact that there were no remote references to the earthquakes of recent past that we haven’t learned our lesson. We see shades of this in New Orleans as well; defiance in the aftermath of tragedy is fine for places hit by terrorism. But this isn’t the same thing. Hell hath no fury like Mother Nature, and she has no regrets, remorse, and will do it again.

There are lessons here for Jamaicans as well. There are developers running amok out there, replete with their know-it-all, engineering-can-solve-anything bravado; “contractors” running around adding second and third floors to buildings that can’t support the weight. The construction of Kennedy Grove in Clarendon in a flood plain. Building Caribbean Terrace so close to the sea. Constantly building more and more houses in Jack’s Hill. We don’t seem to learn our lesson. Don’t worry – Mother Nature will soon don her professor hat and teach us the hard way.