Hey Ron and Rand Paul, Read This: "Japan’s Strict Building Codes Saved Lives"

[Yavin4]

From seawalls that line stretches of Japan’s coastline, to skyscrapers that sway to absorb earthquakes, to building codes that are among the world’s most rigorous , no country may be better prepared to withstand earthquakes than Japan.

Had any other populous country suffered the 8.9 magnitude earthquake that shook Japan on Friday, tens of thousands of people might already be counted among the dead. So far, Japan’s death toll is in the hundreds, although it is certain to rise.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/world/asia/12codes.html?hp

See there. Strong government regulation saved lives. Not some fucking invisible hand. Countries without strong building regulations like Haiti and China suffered far more deaths because of earthquakes.

Ayn Rand was full of shit.

[FSogol]

1. K & R. n/t

[Hannah Bell]

2. that's one good thing in this earthquake, surprisingly little building damage in a densely populated

skyscraper area like tokyo which took a lot of the force.

hundreds of thousands of lives saved because of that i'd bet

[FLAprogressive]

3. But think of all the "freedom" and "liberty" those strict building codes took away.....

the freedom and liberty to die in a hellacious earthquake.

[Boswell]

8. you're not looking at the big picture

now Halliburton and Blackwater(change the name all you want, we know what they are) won't be able to get big "re-building" or "security" contracts!

[Kievan Rus]

4. Look what happened in Haiti after a 7.0; no government regulation and all "invisible hand"

This quake was 100 times stronger and while devastating, it's nowhere near as bad as what happened in Port-au-Prince.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. actually worst than 100 times... like 1000 times

and if it is still upgraded to 9.1 ...

[blm]

5. EXACTLY! Remember Hurricane Andrew? Homestead, Fl wiped out. Habitat for Humanity homes remained

because they were BUILT TO CODE. The neighborhoods built by greedy developers were turned into splinters.

[jmowreader]

14. I thought the Habitat homes were built above code

IIRC Florida code didn't require hurricane ties between the roof system and the walls before Andrew hit, so a lot of contractors were just nailing the trusses on. Habitat was using hurricane ties (among other things, hurricane ties make it easier to connect the roof to the walls) so there was very little uplift on the Habitat homes. Now of course the Metro Dade building code requires hurricane ties--which cost $1.25 apiece, so there's really no excuse NOT to use them.

[gratuitous]

7. Send the link to their offices

I'd love to hear either one of those freeloading scumbags spinning their bullshit libertarian nonsense.

[Cali_Democrat]

9. The thing is....they don't care about saving lives

They only care about private profits. If a few thousand people have to die, so be it.

K&R

[Kingofalldems]

10. Makes one realize how short-sighted their philosphy is

[Ratty]

11. The magic finger of capitalism solves all

You just don't understand how it works. X corporation, free of governmental tyranny, constructs shoddy buildings that collapse in an earthquake and kill thousands. Of course citizens, watching their totally unregulated but trusty corporate-owned news media, learn all about this and who the builders are. When the time comes to build something they naturally gravitate toward Y whose buildings withstood the earthquake. See? The free market has put X out of business! And those first thousands of dead can rest easy in their makeshift graves knowing they gave their lives watering the tree of free market liberty.

[fascisthunter]

12. "Ayn Rand was full of shit".... she was a Sociopath, and Sociopaths love to lie

it makes them feel empowered when they think they can fool people, or manipulate people to do their bidding. Young republicans are being brainwashed by a loon that has been dead for a long time. How stupid is that?

[MisterP]

13. right-libertarians' doctrines and worldviews are rooted in Rand's cult

having them in government, or having politicians who listen to such voters, is as productive as training Marshall Herff Applewhite's followers to run comet-probe missions at JPL