A world divided by ethnic and religious disputes suddenly faced its common humanity- and common morality- in a disaster of shocking geographic reach.

What the rich world suffers as hardships the poor world often suffers as mass death. The rich, unlike the poor, can afford to live in fortified structures away from floodplains, riverbanks and hillsides. The rich, unlike the poor, have early-warning systems-seismic monitors, weather forecasts and disease- surveillance systems. The rich, unlike the poor, have cars and trucks that enable them to leave on short notice when a physical disaster threatens. And the rich countries, unlike the poor ones, can quickly mobilize food, drinking water, backup power generators, doctors and emergency medical supplies in the aftermath of disaster.

One test of whether humanity acts differently in the next millennium is this: Can we marshal the visionary persistence needed to take charge of our future? Or will we carry on as we did throughout most of the past- simply reacting to tragedies as they happen? If the answer is the second, then there will continue to be more tragedies like that of last Sunday.