Clark sees hope in community responses to disasters like Sandy
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, one thing is striking: the extent to which many of the best and first responders have been local.
From Brooklyn down to the Jersey Shore, Sandy has left its mark. But now, stories abound of community groups shoveling sand out of living rooms, feeding and housing the homeless, and arranging online help through listservs and crowdfunding. Somehow, communities have married the best of old-fashioned neighborliness to 21st century networking — resulting in a steady flow of local energy against a sea of devastation.
Federal help is still critical. State and local governments can’t respond alone to disasters of this scale. As comedian Steven Colbert quipped sarcastically, “Who better to respond to what’s going on inside its own borders than the state whose infrastructure has just been swept out to sea?”
But when physical infrastructure is swept away, it reveals another layer of community: its civic infrastructure. And just as storms have a way of revealing deferred maintenance on bridges and levies, disasters also teach us the cost of neglecting civic participation, neighborly communication, and a strong citizen decision-making process — qualities that FEMA and the Red Cross simply cannot replace.
Given that our world is likely to be threatened by more Katrinas, Irenes, and Sandys, it’s time to appreciate not just our federal government agencies, but our local governance abilities.
This type of local governance can take its lead from the slow food movement, and is something we like to call slow democracy.
