> IMO, the only Law of Nature in play here is one that predates human > existence by billions of years: the nature of rivers to flood, from > time to time. If there's anything to be repented, it's the notion that > building cities on the banks of rivers is a good idea. >
********* There certainly are some stupid decisions by humans in designing cities here -- for instance, Cedar Rapids had the hubris to put its city hall, courthouse and jail on a small island in the center of the river: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/us/13flood.html But the principle that Nature reacts to human wrongdoing with disaster is part of the timeless holistic understanding of life: Guru Dev (11): "Accept responsibility for causing the good health of all, the view of the authors of the AyurVeda Shastra - Charaka and Sushruta - is to stay with the feeling of dharma - resembling nature, natural - and when the feeling of adharma increases then irregularity of nature occurs, that is to say that the three gunas (qualities) become uneven, from that occurs quarrelling amongst companions, malice, deluge, drought, famine, and various illnesses, ways of anxiety and suffering grow. http://www.paulmason.info/gurudev/AKtransrough.htm
