Destruction in Puerto Rico with Naomi Klein

Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

NBCNews

News, Nbcnews, Why Is This Happening?, The Chris Hayes Podcast, Chris Hayes, Politics, Government, Society & Culture, Msnbc, Withpod

4.6 • 8.9K Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2018

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How did Hurricane Maria evolve from a natural disaster into a human catastrophe in Puerto Rico? While the official death count remains at 64, a Harvard study suggests thousands were killed. While the hurricane left its devastating mark on the island, there were already destructive forces in play long before the storm made landfall. Forces that made Puerto Rico uniquely vulnerable to the ravaging effects of the storm and its aftermath. So when did the problems in Puerto Rico start? And how did they manifest in the lead up and aftermath of Hurricane Maria? Naomi Klein says that to understand what happened you need to go way back before the storm. She explains how Hurricane Maria acted as an accelerant to a process long underway and that could continue to get worse as Puerto Rico tries to pick up the pieces. Visit NBCNews.com/WhyIsThisHappening for more.

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's kind of a slow motion disaster, right?
0:01.8	I mean, it lasts for a very long time in the sense
0:04.3	that because the grid doesn't get up,
0:06.1	because people are in isolation for a very long time,
0:09.7	what is the means by which people there
0:12.4	that you're talking to are trying to build resilience
0:15.7	as this aftermath stretches on and on?
0:19.1	I mean, honestly, I hesitate to even just call it a disaster,
0:21.8	which makes it sound like there's no agency in it for anyone.
0:26.8	We've been talking about how the economic strangulation
0:29.6	of Puerto Rico exacerbated the death toll,
0:33.0	whether it was in healthcare, electricity, water.
0:37.1	But that strangulation is just intensifying post-barrier, right?
0:40.6	So I don't think this is really just about Maria.
0:43.8	I think Maria was an accelerant to this process
0:46.8	that was already underway and that is ongoing.
0:52.8	Welcome to Why Is This Happening With Me, Your Host, Chris Ace.
0:57.6	So you've probably seen the shocking number
1:01.4	from the Harvard study of the number of deaths caused
1:05.0	by Hurricane Maria and its aftermath
1:07.0	on the island of Puerto Rico beginning in late summer 2017
1:10.0	when it hit the island.
	...

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