New York is still in a state of emergency from the record rainfall and my basement is still not clear of water so I continue to watch The Days about the Fukushima disaster, which seems fitting. Inevitably in these disaster scenarios (on screen or in real life) anger turns to blame. New York's mayor was blamed for not giving people enough warning. City officials in New Orleans were blamed for not repairing the city's flood infrastructure. Recent disasters in Korea have led to accusations of incompetence by the police and government officials. What's interesting is that in times of crisis, national identities become more prominent - for better or worse. In both the Korean and Japanese examples, the hierarchical characteristics of these cultures was blamed for underlinings being unwilling to speak up about problems to their superiors.  Similarly, the Chernobyl series made a lot of the role corrupt Communist officials played in making things worse with the excessive secrecy and duplicity associated with the Soviet regime. When things go wrong in the US, a reliance on corporate interests at the expense of the public good, is cited. Excessive British tolerance and passivity was questioned after the London bombings. And on it goes. A lot of this tends to rely heavily on National stereotypes. What seems more universal is that systems and procedures are built based on ideal scenarios and when they encounter the chaos of the real world and the imperfections of people, things go awry. The workers at the Fukushima plant and the experts brought in to advise them seem in over their head. The frantically leaf through user manuals looking in vain for help. They seem paralysed by scenarios no one imagined could happen.  Corners get cut. Budgets are modified. Promises loudly made with all the best intentions are walked back quietly. Dogged experts warn the world in footnotes and the world ignores them.