By Li Hongmei People's Daily Online
In the run-up to the anniversary of May 12 Sichuan massive earthquake, Qingming Festival, or Tomb Sweeping Day in the Chinese culture, a day to pay tribute to the dead and which fell on Apr.5 this year, reopened the wound which even today the local residents of the impact areas still feel too ghastly to look back at.
In days prior to and on Qingming, many flooded to the sites of some hardest-hit areas to hold a memorial ceremony for the victims killed in the quake; and a great many visitors from across the country also came in time to be personally on the tragic scene. Meanwhile, businesses nationwide are drawn to the spot, either, as the local authorities are endeavoring to restore infrastructure and bid for reconstructions after disaster.
Also emerged from the dust of doubt and criticism is a seemingly flourishing industry nicknamed quake-related business. Some intensely condemned the phenomenon of what they deem is profiting form the national disaster and even labeled it as the economy stained with tears and blood. The badly-branded business acts, finger pointed currently by both media and the public, vary in wide arrays from street vendors, mostly local residents, selling video tapes, CDs and photographs which recount the deadly quake to real price gougers taking advantage of disaster and even the criminal act such as selling looted items.
Although it is highly unfair to contemptuously put those making a living on what they personally suffered in the same group as those seeking a fat profit from disaster, and also unscientific to make a confusion between ethically seeking profit from disaster and price gouging, or profiteering, the sad fact is that people tend to wield weapon of morality to fend off any idea to make money from disaster in whatever form. When a disaster strikes, whether it be a hurricane, earthquake, flood, terrorist attack, or some other devastating event, people always could not help but highly tout the individuals and businesses that are eager to volunteer and assist those in need.
Unfortunately, the resources that are brought in on a volunteer and donation basis would typically run out much sooner than expected. And more often than not, those businesses or individuals who gladly gave their time and resources to those in need feel guilty charging for potentially additional services, so they just pack up and leave the disaster area, proud of their good deed, yet leaving those still in a bad need of assistance few recovery options.
A case in point is the example of a vendor surnamed Zhang cited by newspaper Qilu Evening, who is native to the epicenter Yingxiou Town and found the only survivor of his extended family from last year's deadly shock. He is now earning his keep selling mainly photographs with shots of the quake, which he buys in from a wholesaler and sells for 3 to 5 yuan each. He can have a 20-yuan, or at best 50- yuan daily income as a street vendor. When asked why he chose to lead a life like this, he said, 'donations won't last long, and forever, and I have to stand on my own feet, fending for my self.' In his late fifties, and without desirable skills to find a job, he has to devise ways to maintain livelihood. 'My life will have to move on, and this is the only thing now I can do to console my passed-away families and relatives,' Zhang was cited as saying.
Another example more evident to show the point is what happened in Florida, U.S., when hurricane Charley hit in 2005. Initially after the hurricane, a large number of contractors went to the area, donating services, supplies, and other things needed to rebuild the community. The point worth pondering is that the local residents of the impact area didn't want the contractors to leave and would have paid the contractors their normal rate to stay and finish the disaster recovery efforts.
But the contractors who were there on a volunteer basis felt guilty if taking money from disaster victims. Two years later, even in 2007, many local residents were still left seeking reputable contractors to help them. It is an unfortunate situation that could have been avoided. So does that mean it's possible to profit from a disaster situation and not feel guilty? Yes, the businesses that are able to come into a community after a disaster strikes and offer a needed product or service can profit both handsomely and ethically.
The same judgment should also be applied to the individuals, who otherwise can be wrongly treated as speculators using disaster as a selling point to engage in profiteering. When many critics held the point that literature in any form describing the Auschwitz should be despised as inhumane, the Hungarian novelist and Auschwitz survivor, Imre Kertesz won the 2002 Nobel Literature Prize for his great work detailing all the sufferings of Auschwitz victims. Today, Auschwitz, the once death camp set up by Nazis, has become a tourist attraction and a reminder of catastrophes in the bygone days. And nobody would finger point Kertesz for recounting this, even if he took full advantage of his personal sufferings and tragic memories for all humans in order to produce the best seller, and he also established his supreme position in literature as the Nobel Laureate, all based on the tragedy.
Nevertheless, the examples as listed above are in substance different from those of, say, unscrupulous storeowners selling shoddy or fake household appliances to the disaster victims at highly inflated prices, or people going after petty advantages, by scouring the debris for anything valuable at the quake sites then selling their hoard for a good money. Such people are not seeking to profit from disaster; they are actually seeking to profit from misery, and deserve the condemnation of profiteering.
There are essentially ethical ways to make money after a disaster except the absolutely noble ways like volunteer and donation. The bottom line is that businesses or individuals need to guarantee people receive their products or services on the basis of a fair deal, and additionally, whatever on offer must be well worth the pay from recipients, for the simple reason that, after all, it is offered to those hit by disaster. By so doing, it will be a win-win solution, as businesses will get over the stigma of profiting from disaster while helping people in need.
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