Dear Sir/Madam, 

Despite its title, today's leader, "Learning from disaster", in response to the terrible loss of life caused by the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, failed even to recognise by far the most important lesson - which is staring us all in the face.

"It beggars belief that the government in Thailand, which had up to an hour to issue a warning, failed to do so - partly for fear of the effect on the country's lucrative tourism industry . . ."  

"A proper warning was not given, a member of Thailand's seismological bureau said, [because] . . . . if we had . . . and then it hadn't happened, then it would have been the death of tourism in those areas." ("The true horror emerges").

It doesn't "beggar belief" at all. On the contrary, it is - and always has been - perfectly normal to place excessive, subjective importance on economic interests. We should admire whoever it was at Thailand's seismological bureau for being so honest. With hindsight it is easy to see that it was a bad decision. If the tsunami hadn't caused much damage or loss of life, the same decision would have been considered the correct one.

By far the most important lesson - one that we are always missing, but in desperate need of recognising at all - is that economic interests, largely rooted in man's "more animal than human " nature, must be comprehensively subordinated to our more enlightened human nature and interests.

Confusion arises from particular economic interests usually being portrayed (and sold) as in the general interest ("when the economy grows we are all better off", etc.).

We are all naturally inclined - by our "more animal than human " nature - to put our own, narrow, economic interests before other people's more vital interests, especially when we do not directly experience the consequences of doing so. On the rare occasions when we do, at least with many of us, our "more human " nature kicks in and we change our priorities, although by the time it happens (as now with those involved in Thailand's tourist industry) it is often too late. 

The tobacco industry persisted (and continues to persist) in promoting its products, despite all the evidence for the harm they do. Yet nobody throws up their arms and exclaims, "It beggars belief". The reason is because we are so used to it. No one expects the tobacco industry (or others who profit from it) to subordinate their economic interests to people's health or life-expectancy. We simply accept that they have to be forced to do so by legislation - which they succeeded in delaying for decades, at the cost, world-wide, of millions of lives (and counting).

On a planet which will soon have 7-9 billion human inhabitants, but with limited natural resources and a finite carrying capacity, it should be obvious, for example, that individual motorisation and frequent air travel, currently "enjoyed" by the wealthiest 15 percent or so, and already causing serious problems, are utterly unsustainable, yet economic interests, more than anything else, have made us blind to the inevitable, terrible consequences for our children and coming generations; so we persist in pursuing such madness (see The straw(s) that broke the camel's back). 

It is what I refer to as the "insanities of normality ". It is their "normality " that makes them so difficult (for most people, impossible) to recognise, added to which, they are in so many people's narrow and apparent self-interest. Who doesn't want to own a car and be able to fly off to the sun once or twice a year?

I suggest that you publish this letter on your front page "once a week " until it has been understood by enough people to set in motion the rapid, radical changes to our economy and way of life (i.e. to the values, attitudes and aspirations with underlie them) necessary to avert the fast approaching catastrophe - like a tsunami on the distant horizon, but which it will soon be too late to escape.

Yours sincerely

Roger Hicks

www.spaceship-earth.org