Electricity Rationing Starting Monday In Tokyo 286
siddesu writes "Japanese officials are announcing a schedule for electricity blackouts to last from tomorrow until the end of April. Practically all suburbs of Tokyo will be affected by the blackouts. The 23 districts of central Tokyo seem to be exempt for the moment, but if supply is not sufficient, blackouts are possible. Electricity will be interrupted for about 3 hours a day in each area."
And capital letters? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:And capital letters? (Score:3, Funny)
And text?
Just send BP engineers to fix reactor (Score:2, Funny)
Problem solved.
Re:Tomorrow is already here! (Score:4, Funny)
So what happens to all the Pokemon in the Kanto region?
Re:Government rationing?!?! (Score:0, Funny)
A lot of people are wondering what's going to happen in Japan in the upcoming days and weeks; damaged nuclear reactors and aftershocks are bound to keep a rational person on their toes.
The main problem, however, as I see it, is the Japanese government. History has shown us that governments are incompetent and inefficient. My point is this: why not let the market sort out this mess? Market forces are what make the world turn round. Businesses, made up of passionate entrepreneurs, will undoubtedly provide Japan with the solutions it needs; why would the Japanese want a bunch of career politicians and jaded bureaucrats to take care of such an important problem?
Governments always justify their actions with reference to the 'common good' or 'helping the disadvantaged', but we all know -- and let's be honest -- that this is always an excuse; government just wants to put its nose where its not wanted and control people's lives. To the people of the affected areas (and my heart does go out to them), I say, what would you prefer: control over your own destiny, or a fat cat politician from Tokyo telling you what to do? No doubt, the majority would prefer to make a choice about who provides the relief effort, containment of a possible nuclear accident, and rebuilding of the damaged areas. By forcing itself upon the Japanese people, the government is taking away their freedom of choice.
And besides, in a hypothetical situation where affected individuals want the government to help them: why should the rest of the Japanese foot the bill for the bad decisions of others? Those affected knew there was a nuclear reactor nearby; they knew that Japan was situation near a fault line; they knew all the risks, they took them, and now things have gone wrong. That's a shame, sure, but when you take a risk you have to accept the consequences, not go cap in hand to the government to bail you out (like the banks). It's downright immoral to force tax-paying, hard-working, regular Japanese folks to pay for the relief effort of people who refuse to take responsibility for themselves; why should people be coerced into paying for the results of risks they did not take? Why should government be given free reign to bully people like this?
Still, that is a hypothetical scenario. The Japanese are an upstanding people with an entrepreneurial spirit who will no doubt fight tooth and nail to get the government off their backs, out of their towns and away from their nuclear facilities.