Posted by
John R. LaPlante on Wednesday, August 30, 2006 9:42:41 AM
In responding to natural disasters and other challenges, voluntary efforts are often better than local government action, which in turn is often better than national government action.
With the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on us, it’s time to remember the remarks made by Forest Thigpen, president of the Mississippi Center for Public Policy, about a month after the storm. Thigpen commented on the attitude of residents and volunteers in his state: “You haven’t heard a lot of complaints from Mississippi about the lack of federal response because there have been very few complaints. … The prevailing attitude seems to be driven by some confusion: “Why should we be mad about the government not coming to help? That’s not their job - it’s ours.” (Be sure to catch the touching story of what the state’s First Lady was told during a post-Katrina visit to a family that had lost its house.)
In separate commentaries, Thigpen calls for big ideas, not big government, and commends churches for their work. “Virtually all of the shelters in the Jackson area were run by churches,” for example.
Katrina will be affecting life in the Gulf Coast for a long time. Years from now, the health of states and communities hit by the hurricane will depend not only on how badly they were hit, but how government and the civil society responded.