Today I'm in a bad mood

Living, working and travelling in Europe for years we have seen many places, some are more beautiful than others.  While the geographies or customs change, one thing constant is the attention given by the authorities to make people’s lives better.  The public transport, the public recreational spaces, the basic health services are all there and all in some sort of working order. Basically, the public servants from the president of a country down to a junior clerk sitting in some office in a far away town are doing their jobs better. 

Are these countries richer than mine? Some are but not all.  

Do they all sort out their internal differences whether idealistic, religious or nationalistic and concentrate on the well being of their people as a whole?   No, just take a look at Belgium.

Are their governments and city councils full of people who dedicate their lives just to serve the country without any personal benefit or gain? Come on. People are people everywhere. They all have the capacity to be good and greedy.

Are their media more objective, telling people the truth and nothing but the truth?  Yeah, right!

So why do they serve better ?  Simply because they have to. The public, the media and the system have put better auto controls through the years. If the public servants are caught cheating (and from time to time some cheat big time) or make a mess of their responsibilities (here the examples are endless) they have to resign their posts, take accountability and face serious punishment.

When was the last time anyone can remember this happening in Turkey?

Look at Van. People are dying under horribly constructed buildings, and if they survive the earthquake they have to face cold and hunger. I don’t even want to start writing on Kizilay. Who could have thought it will be cold in late October in Eastern Turkey ? Or people require shelter and food to survive ?

The memories of the 1999 earthquake are still strong in most of us but we again see the history repeating itself.

Does anyone really believe that the people who built the houses and more importantly the authorities who gave the permits will all be punished? 

I just finish reading an article titled ‘ The geography of tears’ where the writer was talking about the recent events we had to face, first the death of the 24 soldiers fighting a never ending war and then the earthquake.  And he was giving more examples of human suffering in Libya, Iraq and elsewhere in Middle East. It was a well written piece and the writer was saying that tears and suffering are the fate of the people who are sharing our geography, so nothing could be done but we have to keep hoping. He wasn't even specific on what we are supposed to be hoping for.

I lost count of the times I read a similar piece or a statement when someone was blaming some can't-be-controlled-authority (fate is the most popular, although the weather, God's will and unseen evil forces all play their parts in such statements). And of course they all advise hope. 

Well, I respectfully disagree.  

We as the people have to start thinking and asking the right questions and force actions. And most of all, remember the past. Because if we don’t look after ourselves, nobody else will.

Why do I write this?  I don’t even know.

But as I said earlier, today I’m in a bad mood.