6 ms·

It seems like there are two separate things needed -- overall increase in wealth creation, and better survivability of structures (or at least shelters) at the

by rdl 13y ago

It seems like there are two separate things needed -- overall increase in wealth creation, and better survivability of structures (or at least shelters) at the current price points (or maybe in the price points somewhat above the current point.) (I was looking at being in Cebu or Leyte for diving last week, but my ear was slightly sore so I went to Bangkok first instead. Pretty happy about that.)

mbenjaminsmith 13y ago
Off topic but apparently your site's cert has expired: https://www.cryptoseal.com/ https://www.cryptoseal.com/
wyclif 13y ago
The other thing that is needed is a revolt against the totally heinous levels of political corruption in the Philippines. Which will probably be a lot harder to do than better engineering.
- mattquiros 13y ago
  Yes, yes! I am so glad somebody mentioned this. The political system in the Philippines is so rotten that it gets in the way of any intelligent, scientific solution ever proposed to every problem the country has. I personally think that that is the root problem here. I have no idea how to solve that, though.
  - critium 13y ago
    Having lived in the Philippines and the U.S. I have this observation. The U.S. is not more or less corrupt that the Philippines. They just do it with more _style_. By that I mean, they are just better at hiding it.
    - mattquiros 13y ago
      So do you mean to say that the Philippines should be in a condition just as good as the US? There are many variables unique to the political situation in the Philippines that US politics doesn't have, I'm not making excuses, but I also don't get your point.
    - jbellis 13y ago
      I've also lived in both, and that's nonsense. Rather than compare anecdotes though, look at some actual data: http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2012/results/ http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2012/results/ (USA is ranked 17; Philippines is 105. Lower is better.)
mistermann 13y ago
> It seems like there are two separate things needed -- overall increase in wealth creation, and better survivability of structures (or at least shelters) I've always had this theory that one at least partial explanation for the differing economic states of different cultures is ability to properly assess risks and prepare for them accordingly. If every <x> years a typhoon is going to come along and wipe out <y>% of your infrastructure putting the affected regions of the country back to square one yet again, coming up with a workable solution to that should be a super high priority. If your work is constantly going into relatively persistent projects and you can minimize setbacks, standard of living constantly increases over time and generations. Cindercrete blocks are the first thing that come to my mind, but maybe that's too expensive? Could some sort of reinforcement mechanism (perhaps anchored to the ground, providing strength but still allowing movement/flexibility) for bamboo huts be designed that uses affordable cabling such that they could withstand the force without disintegrating? Personally, I'd be more likely to donate money if there was a specific engineering cause like this that I knew it was going to, rather than just general relief to recreate the same environment that will simply be wiped out again next time. Wrong way to think perhaps, but so be it. Charity success is partially a marketing problem, and this is a way to approach it that I think would have some success. If you could sponsor a specific family (as you can with children in Africa) for some housing upgrades, and get some photos in return, I think a lot of people over here with excess money might share a bit of it. Yes, obviously I don't know all the parameters involved, and it's easy for me as a rich white male on the other side of the world to armchair quarterback, but I simply don't believe that everything that can be done is being done - over here we have our own solvable problems that we will never solve, for different reasons, so I don't think it's racist to believe that just perhaps, people in the Phillipines aren't undertaking the 100% optimal solution to their problems. EDIT: I read below: It's worth reiterating that for all the obvious destructive power of sustained wind speeds of almost 200mph, it was the associated storm surge – the rush of water into coastal areas – which caused the worst damage in Tacloban, and most likely many of the deaths. The storm surge in Tacloban was estimated at 6m, sweeping away even concrete buildings, and bringing the sort of devastation so reminiscent of the Indian Ocean tsunami. Storm surges washing away even concrete structures.....now that's depressing. So now what? Can we affordably elevate everyone's shelter? But 6 metres? Not a chance. If 6m stomr surges are somewhat common, I just don't know how that are can be considered habitable. I have no idea if there is somewhere else those people could be relocated to. Oh man it's a tough problem.

by rdl 13y ago

mbenjaminsmith 13y ago

Off topic but apparently your site's cert has expired: https://www.cryptoseal.com/ https://www.cryptoseal.com/

wyclif 13y ago

The other thing that is needed is a revolt against the totally heinous levels of political corruption in the Philippines. Which will probably be a lot harder to do than better engineering.

mattquiros 13y ago
Yes, yes! I am so glad somebody mentioned this. The political system in the Philippines is so rotten that it gets in the way of any intelligent, scientific solution ever proposed to every problem the country has. I personally think that that is the root problem here. I have no idea how to solve that, though.
- critium 13y ago
  Having lived in the Philippines and the U.S. I have this observation. The U.S. is not more or less corrupt that the Philippines. They just do it with more _style_. By that I mean, they are just better at hiding it.
  - mattquiros 13y ago
    So do you mean to say that the Philippines should be in a condition just as good as the US? There are many variables unique to the political situation in the Philippines that US politics doesn't have, I'm not making excuses, but I also don't get your point.
  - jbellis 13y ago
    I've also lived in both, and that's nonsense. Rather than compare anecdotes though, look at some actual data: http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2012/results/ http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2012/results/ (USA is ranked 17; Philippines is 105. Lower is better.)

mistermann 13y ago

> It seems like there are two separate things needed -- overall increase in wealth creation, and better survivability of structures (or at least shelters) I've always had this theory that one at least partial explanation for the differing economic states of different cultures is ability to properly assess risks and prepare for them accordingly. If every <x> years a typhoon is going to come along and wipe out <y>% of your infrastructure putting the affected regions of the country back to square one yet again, coming up with a workable solution to that should be a super high priority. If your work is constantly going into relatively persistent projects and you can minimize setbacks, standard of living constantly increases over time and generations. Cindercrete blocks are the first thing that come to my mind, but maybe that's too expensive? Could some sort of reinforcement mechanism (perhaps anchored to the ground, providing strength but still allowing movement/flexibility) for bamboo huts be designed that uses affordable cabling such that they could withstand the force without disintegrating? Personally, I'd be more likely to donate money if there was a specific engineering cause like this that I knew it was going to, rather than just general relief to recreate the same environment that will simply be wiped out again next time. Wrong way to think perhaps, but so be it. Charity success is partially a marketing problem, and this is a way to approach it that I think would have some success. If you could sponsor a specific family (as you can with children in Africa) for some housing upgrades, and get some photos in return, I think a lot of people over here with excess money might share a bit of it. Yes, obviously I don't know all the parameters involved, and it's easy for me as a rich white male on the other side of the world to armchair quarterback, but I simply don't believe that everything that can be done is being done - over here we have our own solvable problems that we will never solve, for different reasons, so I don't think it's racist to believe that just perhaps, people in the Phillipines aren't undertaking the 100% optimal solution to their problems. EDIT: I read below: It's worth reiterating that for all the obvious destructive power of sustained wind speeds of almost 200mph, it was the associated storm surge – the rush of water into coastal areas – which caused the worst damage in Tacloban, and most likely many of the deaths. The storm surge in Tacloban was estimated at 6m, sweeping away even concrete buildings, and bringing the sort of devastation so reminiscent of the Indian Ocean tsunami. Storm surges washing away even concrete structures.....now that's depressing. So now what? Can we affordably elevate everyone's shelter? But 6 metres? Not a chance. If 6m stomr surges are somewhat common, I just don't know how that are can be considered habitable. I have no idea if there is somewhere else those people could be relocated to. Oh man it's a tough problem.