As we watched President Obama and Governor Christie tour the swath of destruction left by Hurricane Sandy and listened to the post tour commentary, we were struck by a number of issues.
It speaks to the sad state of our politics that a Democratic president and a Republican governor coming together to help the victims of a natural disaster is NEWS! It is sad that the coming together of two leaders with different ideological viewpoints is so rare that it becomes the lead story in every newspaper and news broadcast. And it is sad that our politics have become so divisive that a Republican governor would have to defend himself against attacks from his own party because he said something nice about a Democratic president who is helping the people in his state through a very tough time.
As we watched these two political leaders come together for the common good we were struck by how silly and impotent all the ideological nonsense that we have witnessed in recent months really is. The victims of this storm clearly don’t give a damn about which party restores their power and whether the aid they need comes from FEMA or state and local authorities.
As we watched the damage in New Jersey and the power outages in Manhattan we were struck by how vulnerable our infrastructure really is and how important it is to our quality of life that we bring it up to 21st century standards.
We were struck by the horror expressed over the conditions on the ground…the lack of food, water and services. Make no mistake, we have a great deal of sympathy for the storm victims that have lost their homes and businesses and are going through a very, very tough time. But we are reminded that 46 million people in this country live in poverty every day…1.7 million of them children. 696,000 are homeless. Yet their plight goes largely unnoticed.
We were struck by the fact that it took a natural disaster for people to come to the realization of how important government is in our lives. We take the resources that government offers for granted until it becomes clear that only government can provide the assistance that people need.
And finally we were struck by how this storm brings out the difference between the role of government and the role of business and the free market in our society. Government is about more than assets and liabilities; profits and losses. Government is about compassion…taking care of one another even if it means borrowing money to do it.
Hurricane Sandy reminds us of how powerless we really are; how we really don’t control our lives. It reminds us that blurry line that separates the 1% from the 47% can be erased in the blink of an eye.
Sandy reminds us of that which is truly important in this country. Not politics or ideology…not wealth or material things…but that we are all imperfect human beings who need to come together for the common good. We are reminded that the “We” is so much stronger than the “I.”
No comments:
Post a Comment