Home » General Discussions » General Discussion » Would you make a Trip to Chernoyl?
| Re: Would you make a Trip to Chernobyl? [message #334102 is a reply to message #334044] |
Sun, 08 June 2008 15:46   |
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NukeIt15
Messages: 987
Registered: February 2003
Location: Out to lunch
Karma:
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Colonel |
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In a word: no.
In two words: hell no.
It's not just because of the radiation, either, though that's certainly a factor. There are some radioactive sites I would like to visit, like the Trinity test site in New Mexico. The main reason why I would never visit Chernobyl is because I find the whole trend of turning sites of accidental tragedies or major disasters into tourist traps disgusting. That's what it is, too. It's a place where a really fucked up series of mishaps led to a disaster which displaced thousands of people and changed the way most people look at nuclear power- but there have been worse disasters which were completely overlooked in which entire towns were evacuated and many people died because of an accident- many of them here in the US, even. You might as well go halfway around the world to ogle at a car wreck, for fuck's sake. An accident is an accident; it means somebody fucked up somewhere and it has no greater significance. Everything that can be learned from Chernobyl already has been learned- there is simply nothing there for future generations to ponder; there is no element of "we shall remember" to stick in your mind. It was an accident- one brought about by poor quality control and human error, not by design. Think Exxon Valdez, Space Shuttle Challenger, RMS Titanic. Chernobyl is fundamentally no different in the nature of the event than any of the above. While we shouldn't by any means let it fade from our collective memory, we shouldn't be packing our bags and our best dumb tourist outfits just to say we've seen where it happened; that's just stupid. Learning about events and places of historical significance is one thing; turning them into vacation trophies is quite another.
If you think any of that is false, check out the guy in the photo and tell me that isn't his best "I'm a cool dude who's been to more cool places than you" pose. That's a pose you'd strike while standing in front of Niagra fucking Falls, for cryin' out loud. If you're gonna go there to learn about it, fine, be my guest... but if your motivation is "I've got the money and I think Chernobyl is a cool place to go" then you're fucking kidding yourself- there are thousands of places far more worth your time.
This earns an epic fail for cultural rubbernecking.
"Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. Horrid mischief would ensue were (the law-abiding) deprived of the use of them." - Thomas Paine
Remember, kids: illiteracy is cool. If you took the time to read this, you are clearly a loser who will never get laid. You've been warned.
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