The coverage of “Super Storm Sandy” has been incredibly overblown as you would expect from a storm that hit New York which, even in this day of the internet, fancies itself as the communications capital of the world.
And, if you live in places like Reno, Oklahoma City, Peoria, or Alamogordo, you have to chuckle a bit when you hear New Yorkers complaining about the government’s response to a storm.
We all would have some advice for them.
Get over it.
You live on a bunch of islands at or below sea level exposed to the Atlantic Ocean, and you honestly think you are not exposed to the elements?
Immediately after Hurricane Katrina leveled parts of New Orleans, we heard the same crap from people who live below sea level and whose state government wouldn’t let the Federal Government in until it was too late. We had the same advice for them. Sue God.
In case you have not figured this out, it is NOT the government’s job to save you from stupidity and a lack of preparedness.
And if you go through your life waiting for the Federal government—or any government for that matter—to bail you out, you will be waiting for a very long time.
FEMA’s real job is to help you with the paperwork.
It’s a government agency that is, like most government agencies, not capable of doing much else because it is a government agency.
Back when I was a teenaged cadet in the Civil Air Patrol (45 years ago), when the Mississippi flooded every spring, we went up state and filled sandbags. No TV coverage or whining residents of Moline, Illinois. Just volunteers doing what volunteers do.
Today, they don’t do that.
Today, we have unionized government employees who resent volunteers.
It is NOT the job of government to be a substitute for your lack of planning and preparedness. In this nation, we have large groups of people who would be willing—more than willing—to volunteer their time, expertise, and money to help folks who get caught in an emergency. We have churches, non government organizations like the Red Cross, and just plain folks.
But we have a government that almost discourages volunteerism under the guise that somehow, agencies like FEMA are up to the job.
Here’s a better idea.
Prepare yourself.
It makes sense to have a plan for natural disasters. And it’s not that difficult. And—contrary to the thinking of certain government officials—preparing for the worst doesn’t make you a subversive or even a conservative. It makes you smart.
Keeping some non-perishable food, some potable water, an alternate power source, and an escape route makes a lot of sense depending upon where you live.
No government agency will do that for you, but you can do it yourself fairly easily.
This isn’t a political statement.
This is a statement of reality.
No matter how much you might wish that our government was all-encompassing and all-competent, the truth is that it is not. And, if it were, you would have NO liberty.
It is incapable of bailing you out of a natural disaster (and many other kinds of disasters), and you will be sadly disappointed if you allow yourself to be lulled into thinking otherwise. In fact, you will look and sound just like the New Yorkers who are now living in their cars.
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They were all warned, time and time again, why did they not have gas cans full and food on hand. If a nasty winter storm hits in /Wyoming, we all have food and gas on hand. We have wood for the wood stoves, and plenty to eat. Cowboy up, Easterners.
I have another suggestion. If you’re not going to man up and take care of yourselves, MOVE. Everyone, Everyone from Brownsville to the Canadian border KNOWS they will be hit by a major storm someday. You have the opportunity to move now and miss the destruction coming in the future. If you want to hang around, man up and keep yourself ready for it.
Save this kind of anger for abortionists, terrorists, and dictators. –There’s a right way and a right time for everything. And this article is the wrong way and wrong time.
Saying you “chuckle” at anything having to do with a storm that has crippled major areas, left countless people homeless, and killed over 100 American citizens, it boarder-line morbid.
Bluntly telling all of those people to “get over it” and to “sue God,” at a time when many of them are sleeping outside in the cold on cardboard boxes, is totally absurd. These people are scared and very confused, as to what is going to happen to them.
Most of the people in New York City that are crying for help from the federal government were raised being taught that the federal government is their daddy. Is it wrong that they were taught this? Yes. But nonetheless, they were taught it. And right now, when so many of them have lost everything, is not the time to go at them. A lot of the people wouldn’t have had the money to get truly prepared, even if someone had walked them through it. And New York City is not an area that regularly gets hit by storms like Sandy.
Gosh, this just breaks my heart to read something that is this harshly addressing so many people of all different walks of life and all different ages, people who we have no idea why they did or didn’t do what we feel we would have done, and at a time when so many of them have lost everything.
Could you imagine, could just imagine losing everything? Unless the person lost it by doing something despicable, like murdering, can we not hold our conservative tongues at least until they recover some, even just a bit?
Debra J.M. Smith
Informing Christians Writer
(Very saddened writer right now)
Debra, it seems the majority of the people on here are not fans of anything that is somehow connected to the Democratic Party and therefore connected to Obama. If this was a natural disaster in the Midwest, they’d be singing a different tune. Many on here would define themselves as Christian but are hardly Christ-Like.
How there’s so much hatred for our President is hard to believe considering the lack of public outcry when the previous administration lied to get us into war, spied on its citizens by skirting the “proper” way to spy on its citizens, denounces when an American is not treated properly yet sets up secret torture prisons.
People seem to cry out against Big Government yet when something happens in THEIR area, the cry is “Where’s our help, how can this happen?”. They forget that our armed forces are part of Big Government too.
Actually, in all honesty, PhillieG, I don’t believe this has anything to do with Obama.
The people in New York City that believe the federal government is their daddy, were raised to believe such, long before Obama came along. But don’t get me wrong, here, I think Obama is the worse thing to ever hit the White House. I just don’t believe he has anything to do with the brainwashing that went on long before he went to D.C.
And to put it truthful, when Nashville Tennessee got hit bad with a storm (you might recall that storm), the people of Nashville got together and helped each other and actually did not cry out to the federal government.
My comment to this article was not disagreeing with the fact that people need to help themselves more. Nor was it disagreeing with the fact that the federal government is not our daddy. And it certainly was NOT condoning big government. My problem with the article was the way the author got his point across and the timing of his post.
Please have no doubt. I am for small government. And I am often too conservative for even some conservatives to handle. And trust me, when I say that when the topic is an abortionist or other type of murderer or child abuser, etc., I do not hold back. And though I absolutely do NOT like what the average every-day liberal does to our country, I just cannot treat such people the same way as I’d treat an abortionist or murderer or child abuser, etc., when calamity falls on them. I see a huge difference. And I also see that most of the every-day liberals out there, are victims of liberal government brain-washing (they are being used in a much bigger game by the high-up liberals in D.C.)
Debra…
Hi Debra,
I can see that we disagree on many things but they more than likely stem from our political opinions and upbringing. That’s what makes America America! While there are some people in NYC and all over the USA who depend on the Federal Government too much, the majority of those who need help in the NYC area live on Staten Island and the Rockaway sections and very many of them are the First Responders who came out on 9/11 to help others. The area is full of Police, Fire, and EMS workers who live in those neighborhoods. They’re not, as insinuated but not outright said, welfare recipients or people looking for something free. Helping those who help others is (IMO) the right thing to do. Other hard hit areas include many NJ Shore and Northern NJ communities. The vast majority are people of upper middle class and high income people who tend to be rather conservative. Then there’s Snookie (there’s at least one in every state!). So many of the people who live there DO help themselves and each other. I see this because I live in the general area where this hurricane hit and see the response to this as well as the incredible selfless response from so many on 9/11.
As far as those who commented on picking other areas to live, that can be said about anyplace in the USA when it’s hit with natural disasters. There are people in the west who have to deal with fires, the Dust Bowl of the 1930′s, tornados, earthquakes, etc. every place faces something sooner or later.
Lately we are seeing major changes in weather patterns that are a result of climate change which I would guess you probably don’t think is either real or happening. The science is there, it’s real. The conservatives are very outspoken and discount this but it’s certainly not the first, or last time they’ve tried to try to change science.
I very Proudly consider myself to be Liberal in my views. I see this as being socially aware of issues that affect everyone as well as understanding people’s role as stewards of our planet. I disagree with your comments about the every-day liberal. I could easily lump all Conservatives together in a way that in no way represents the average conservative or their values. Just the thought of how many conservatives get their opinions from FOX “News” is frightening. Your comment “I just cannot treat such people the same way as I’d treat an abortionist or murderer or child abuser” (but I think Jesus could) makes it sound like a Liberal would say naughty boy/girl to whoever murdered another person. That’s not the case. We might argue they deserve a fair trial but that’s all.
Your brain-washing comment made me laugh. All I can say is thank the powers that be and the American Voter, that we kept our great country to reverting back to the policy and ideals of the previous administration that created much (certainly not all) of the mess our country’s had to deal with over the past four years. Not to mention how they took away many of our rights of freedom and privacy that so many fought very hard to establish.
I certainly do not see either of us changing each others minds. Many of my comments should have been directly more to the “author” of this op-ed piece than to you but I enjoyed reading your opinion and thankfully we can agree to disagree…
~phil
I must add that I’m new to this site and was pleasantly surprised that my comments were even posted since they seem to be vastly different than the majority I’ve seen so far.
Thank you to the Moderator!
Hi Phil,
They are good here about posting comments that disagree, right along with comments that agree with articles. I am a conservative, and yet I don’t always agree with everything. Actually I am leery of someone who always agrees with another person, group, or website, etc.
I actually agree with much of what you said in this comment. Some I don’t, but some I do.
)
And I too, enjoyed reading your opinion and found you to be very pleasant.
Hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving,
Debra…
I hear you. I feel the same way about people who live where tornados happen. Why in gods name would anyone want to live in Tornado Alley? They certainly get what they deserve there! No one forced them to live there. Why should I have to pay for their lack of foresight when looking for a place to live. Sheesh!!
They should just suck it up and get over it!