The question is not whether all is well, or help is needed. The question is whether or not the help that we could provide would be a net benefit, or an overall drag on the existing disaster relief system.
Help volunteering isn't free (even ignoring the cost). It requires coordination and organization of where and how to allocate resources, which must be inserted into the existing plans. It diverting supplies that could go to displaced people in order to sustain the volunteers trying to help them. In many cases, it requires training, which takes away time from the people with skills that can be immediately applied.
Patio11's contention, which I have no expert opinion about but I'm willing to take him at face-value, is that the overhead required to extract value from a volunteer off the streets is greater than the value extracted. The Japanese need more help, but people who might be interested in volunteering are ill-suited to give help. A further point implied in the title but not the article is that the military could give humanitarian aide; I would be willing to believe this, as they have their own coordination, supply, and training already in place and would therefore not be a drag on Japan's relief resources.
Help volunteering isn't free (even ignoring the cost). It requires coordination and organization of where and how to allocate resources, which must be inserted into the existing plans. It diverting supplies that could go to displaced people in order to sustain the volunteers trying to help them. In many cases, it requires training, which takes away time from the people with skills that can be immediately applied.
Patio11's contention, which I have no expert opinion about but I'm willing to take him at face-value, is that the overhead required to extract value from a volunteer off the streets is greater than the value extracted. The Japanese need more help, but people who might be interested in volunteering are ill-suited to give help. A further point implied in the title but not the article is that the military could give humanitarian aide; I would be willing to believe this, as they have their own coordination, supply, and training already in place and would therefore not be a drag on Japan's relief resources.