Catastrophe #1 – Calamity is the Great Leveler

by | Mar 18, 2011 | Catastrophe - 2011, Edmund Burke, Japanese | 0 comments

In honor of and remembrance for those killed and injured by the Sendai earthquake and tsunami. This is my interpretation of ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ a woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai. Here is the original:

Calamity is the great leveler. It did not care if the person was good or bad, rich or poor, old or young.  It didn’t care if they were driving a fancy car or a beat up one.  It didn’t care if the person was an office worker with a smart phone or a farmer with an iron plow. Calamity only knew to level.  No morality, no ethics, no prayer, no wish, no hope dissuaded it from its mission. 

But calamity is no match for humanity.  Humanity builds.  It keeps what is good about being leveled, the lack of pretense and judgment, and builds from there. It does respond to hopes, wishes, prayers, ethics, morality.  It does care. Humanity always beat Calamity. Always.

Drawing and commentary © 2019 Marty Coleman | napkindad.com

Quote is an interpretation of ‘Public Calamity is a Great Leveler’ by Edmund Burke