It is becoming abundantly clear that American leadership is failing, not from lack of conviction, but lack of innovation in nation building. That is a novel term, nation building. As I sit in the dark at my house, I wonder why this is happening in 2012. Perhaps the technologies that can prevent this are bit immature, but one simply does not hear much about how in the future the massive scale of this destruction can be prevented. At the very least the power outages can be prevented if the national electric grid were comprised of individual power nodes that feed a central system instead of the other way around. Such innovation would solve multiple problems at once. Perhaps we say it is too costly, but Sandy is going to cost the country 20 billion dollars, and it seems that something like this happens once every other year. This is not a commentary on safety, but on the lack of vision that leadership has in America. The question is, will a plan emerge, is anyone paying attention? As any social work would tell preventative measures save exponentially more in health and resources. The business of American should not be business, it should be nation building, and yet we seem to be short of visionary craftsman.
Honestly, it has also become clear that the number one priority following a disaster is getting people back to work, and get businesses operating again. The stock market is back up after two days, and I am sure it has nothing to do with the amount of wealth that powerful people stand to lose otherwise. Remember this if anything else, the nation is dependent on the stock market, not out of necessity, but because the powers that be have made it necessary. This is akin to a drug dealer handing out samples knowing that the users will get hooked. When stocks fail, when the economy collapses, they get generous bailouts from the government, because they hold the country hostage by the very system that they setup. It is a no lose proposal. Even as normal people and small business scramble to put the pieces back together, no one worry, stocks are being traded.
There is a dual compulsion here, people are desperate to get back to work, and work is desperate not to lose a dollar. I am not criticizing people or work, but it shows the true values of American culture; work comes before good sense and safety. If there was good sense than roads without traffic lights would be closed, and people would be urged to stay home until conditions are safe for travel. And yet, they travel. Whether we want to change this or not, we should know that work rules our lives. We live in fear of losing jobs, losing money, and not having enough resources for our family, but what good does that do if our family is the victim of unfortunate circumstances. Here is to hoping that America will learn something about themselves from Sandy. It seems we have no learned anything from all the disasters that have come before.
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Let’s go for it and how can we encourage this change? It has been my opinion for sometime that social workers, being systems people, should be in the forefront or developing programs.
Just have to start taking about it, both things really, the need for more far seeing planning and the need for social workers to lead that en devour. As I say constantly, that will never happen unless social work seriously starts thinking about a power, we are the forever middle man
I am currently watching President Obama speak live in Brigandine, NJ re: the devastation Hurricane Sandy brought. The fact that he has stopped campaigning, as he should, to focus on this national disaster speaks volumns, unlike President hopeful Romney who is still campaigning and collecting food at one of his stops…..
The U.S. has had only a few national disasters and so is not prepared. Us Westerners take for granted the more than basics we have everyday like electricity, clean water, houses that for the most part can sustain anything, internet, cell phones, etc.
I lived through the Ice Storm of 1998 that affected Northern New England and Eastern Canada- were not prepared than either and the city of Montreal was one tower collapse away from being shut off from everything and everyone….
I wish everyone to be safe.
People need to eat, pay their bills, have their pensions grow….world doesn’t stop due to a disaster- in fact, it becomes even more important that we push forward and work hard to repair damages and restore routine to alleviate stress and trauma. I agree that businesses that required people to work without need or regard for safety have lost their focus. But after the fact- work and business is the heart of our civilization- the economy is always forefront, even for hunter-gatherers- its basis is food, and without it, we could not exist.
How can the economy come before law and especially moral law? If you held that position murder and theft would be permissible. In addition, one can conceptualize humanity needing the economy, and yet one must also conceptualize the economy needed humanity. How can you separate one from the other so that the process is linear?
You’re on the right track! You CANNOT seperate humanity and economy. At it’s most basic, economic activity is hunting and gathering, hand made crafts in tribe. Complex civiliation simply adds more complexity to that, but the basics- food, clothing, shelter, reproduction- are still there. Law is part of economy- regulations on theft and murder are regulations of economic value. Theft relates to goods, murder to reproduction and productivity- take a life, you take away something valuable to the community. Evil comes in when people exploit each other for advantage- that’s not inherent in economy, that’s a flaw in individual humans.
Do you have a sociology background Michael? Your comments above bring me back to my undergrad days……..Sociology major…..
Now I m hearing about looting-NOT for basics like food/water, but for electronics and such which brings me back to the Rodney King riots…. humanity needs a wake up call in community!
Why yes, yes I do! My BA was in Psychology, with a heavy dose of Sociology. It was going to be my minor, but then I chose Spanish as it seemed more practical. Mas trabajos por un trabador social que se habla espanol!! I’ve always taken a very holisitic view- you cannot seperate or understand invidivual behavior without understanding and studying the environment in which it occurs. Being employed as a government law-enforcement social worker for a decade plus has given me alot of exposure to how our legal, educational, health, mental health, and child welfare systems interact as well. Add in the union and upper management politics I am involved with- that is actually where a good bulk of my day now resides, since I’m in management ranks. Food is the basis of economic activitiy– but once you have that met, luxuries can apply- way to show off how much food you have, in a way. Also– folks may be stealing stuff to sell for necessities later on, too– stealing for food and shelter in an indirect way. TVs from New York, coming soon on the back of a van in a parking lot near you!