Not really. But his remark that “all politics is local” explains the root cause of the failures that magnified the disaster. Bloggers insist on debating questions of evil and whether Katrina is Divine punishment for the sins of the nation. I’d rather focus on the sins of omission – failure to prepare and respond to a crises that everyone could foresee. Sins of omission are committed one day at a time. That day is always tomorrow. At the personal level it is easy to understand why people do this. Six months ago my wife’s friend suffered a total loss in a house fire. She admonished us to photgraph everything in our house and put the photos in a safe place for insurance purposes. We are going to get it done – tomorrow. At the public level, we can look to Tip’s aphorism for the reasons that public officials never prepared for Katrina
Investigations normally look for the “weak link” in the chain and make recommendations. Link repaired. Problem solved. Now let’s have the next crises. Katrina revealed that there were weak links in every level: local, state, federal and private. While this is true, the “all politics is local” remark reveals another set of links, firmly forged, that blocked informed efforts at preparedness. (See FEMA’s July 23, 2004 press release on the impact of notional “Hurricane Pam”and the telling photo of the mayor Nagin memorial motor pool). Local, state, and federal politicians have forged a well-oiled mechanism for channeling federal money to local flood related construction projects. These projects, however, are are more related to getting re-elected than to flood prevention.. Our Senators and Congress-critters all understand Tip O’Neil. Federal funds get local votes. Local voters are more likely to respond to appeals to short term interests than to long term efforts to prepare for the next crises. Voters are much more like the Aesop’s grasshopper than the dour ant. I’d rather “sing all summer” than prepare for tomorrow said the grasshopper.
Back in June, 2004 I wrote a review of Spirituality at Work by Gregory F.A. Pierce. One of his ten spiritual disciplines is making the system work, i.e. striving to improve our own business, government agency, or non-profit so that it is true to its mission. This means acknowledgeing and asking God’s help in overcoming shortcomings in ourselves and our institutions.
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