Jell-O and concrete

What similarities do Jell-O and concrete have? Jell-O is the food we have often been fed after an operation, an illness or hospital stay. It promises the beginning of something new and the first step to better days ahead.

But what promises did Jell-O really hold? The chemicals and dyes in it have caused its desirability and market share to continue dropping. All those alluring colors were really maybe not healing, but harmful. The person hired to push the product is inundated with lawsuits alleging sexual misdeeds.

So how does the story of Jell-O relate to concrete?

Concrete has been been a symbol of progress and better days ahead also. More miles of roads, transmission lines and buildings and infrastructure—even if smothering sensitive erstwhile mangroves and wetlands— signals prosperity. Concrete offers us the means to put up tall buildings, petroleum and chemical factories and pack in homes for middle-class families to reside in who will work in these buildings and factories.

Who are the people promoting concrete and grand infrastructure visions and now will be promoting the concreting over of the concrete that was destroyed in floods? Do we trust them with our sweat and tax dollars? Do we feel comforted by phrases like, “We stand by you and we will rebuild like the good days before the storm”? Do we trust them when they say what once was called a 100-year flood is now a 1,000-year flood and quite soon will be called a 2,000-year flood?

Please be mindful of what we see and hear. The tale might just be a bowl of slimy and wobbly words of mass deception that even the speakers’ own lack of insight is preventing them to see clearly through the murky colors of avarice. SUSAN PANG Garfield