An Ill wind

Published : 28 August 2011, 03:34 PM
Updated : 28 August 2011, 03:34 PM

Everything is dark. The windows are boarded up, we have removed any item that can become airborne from our lawn and the surrounding area. Our refrigerators are set to super cold, and we have established a safe room in our home, with mattresses and tape over the window.

Outside, the rain pounds our house, and the trees bow south against the strong winds. We are in a low-lying area, and the real threat here is flooding.

My friend and publisher here in the United States, Erik is out in the rain taking pictures for his newspaper. My children are enjoying the remaining hours electronic games before the power goes out.

And I'm sitting in my room, working on my laptop for as long as I can. I am writing a rough draft of this article and will hit "send" without editing in case I cannot send my article for several days. I promise I won't be "long winded" — no pun intended.

Yesterday, I took my second oldest daughter to college. I left specific instructions with the younger ones that they should make preparations for the storm. Not all of them complied. One of the four remaining kids here sneaked off to the library when there was work to be done. The other kids felt that to make preparations when the offending party was at the library was "unfair", so they stopped working.

It reminded me of the way political systems unravel.

Fact: A storm is approaching. Fact: The storm doesn't care who has to make the preparations, or who has been unfair about it. The storm will come in any case. I remember an old adage (learned, admittedly on Star Trek) "Only fools fight in a burning house."

My editor is keeping me informed as a tornado on the leading edge of the hurricane is moving through the region. His reporters South of us have already lost power. He believes that within the hour he will lose power as well. The state officials, our governor (A Republican) and our president (A Democrat) are cooperating to make sure that millions are evacuated and have adequate shelter. I wish the political system worked as well to relieve the economic crisis as they have to prevent this hurricane from taking its toll in human lives.

A quick check of the radar shows me that the brunt of the storm will arrive in about two hours. I know that you, my friends, have seen worse. We have mini-crises. The earthquake this week was so mild I didn't even feel it, and now this hurricane may dissipate by the time it reaches us.

The point is that we were ready. We set our childish squabbling aside for long enough to make the correct preparations.

The high water mark of a people come when they can set squabbling aside even when disaster isn't imminent, and cooperate long enough to allow for the fruit of the human spirit to manifest itself in all its splendour. Watching the recent events in Washington, it seemed as if Providence were giving us a warning of what could transpire if we didn't cooperate. Democracy's weakness is that it requires consensus, and its strength is that it fosters compromise and allows for individual incentive.

The consequence of my children's behaviour was that they incurred my wrath. They must not ask for anything until October, not a single favour, because my answer will be "no"; I asked them how they thought I'd react, if they expected some other outcome.

They said they weren't thinking of the consequences.

Children need to be corrected. They need to be reminded to consider the future, and to think about the consequences of their actions. Adults should know better. In a Democratic system, the people, you and I, are the ones who must correct our politician's actions.

We do that by voting.

The storm is growing worse, both actually and metaphorically. I know that the larger issue for the United States is that we have lost our vision, we lack a common purpose. We have always had a goal. We need to redefine our goal in order to move forward as a nation.

Our squabble here involves two parties who, in their zeal to get elected, must chase money. They sometimes must even chase money from Communist Chinese interests, which to me seems treasonous. And, in all honesty your squabble there, from a distance, seems more about holding onto or taking power than about pursuing the interests of the nation, or even making the roads safe. And in both cases, that's a shame.

My Italian cousin tells me that in the Puglia region, many Bangladeshis have come to settle. Some are medical doctors. My relatives are very impressed with the level of education and the gentle nature of these new immigrants. We agree that it is such a shame that such a bountiful harvest of human potential must be transplanted in order to flourish. What a nation Bangladesh would be if the politicians were able to see beyond their own pursuit of power!

If your prime minister wants to create a consensus, then it seems that she will have to make a sacrifice. One such sacrifice is clearing up one matter that made the battle so personal: Put out an olive branch: Give Khaleda Zia back her house. One house is a small price to pay for the solidarity of a nation. It may not do much, but on the other hand, it could be just enough of an olive branch to ensure cooperation on an issue that may save lives.

I teach my children to honour relationships over ideals, because through relationships we are able to accomplish our goals. Next, go to work as a bipartisan unit. Work on a national goal, perhaps a good place to start would be to improve the safety of the roads. On a crystal clear day, more people may die on your roads than will perish as a result of this storm.

Please don't think I'm being patronising like so many of my countrymen tend to be. I realise I have no right to comment without recognising that my own nation has fallen victim to the childish bickering of selfish politicians as well. Why couldn't our president and Congress compromise? Why doesn't the American electorate look to a third party candidate? Why must we think in such binary terms: Republican, Democrat, Liberal, Conservative?

The Space program was our bipartisan triumph. We didn't know where that program would lead us. But as a result of that program, satellites now orbit the planet. These satellites allowed us to understand that we were in danger as early as Thursday, and allowed us to plan accordingly. In April, the New York Times reported that bipartisan squabble forced a cutback in the US weather satellite program, and that by 2016, our ability to predict storms will be diminished, leading to potential reduced ability to predict and prepare for weather emergencies.

I think the will of the people is the only thing that keeps a politician from doing something insane. At least in a democracy, that carries some clout. Otherwise, power makes naughty children of them all.

Well, the storm system seems to be breaking up. It's not even raining now. We prepared for the worse, but the worse did not come. I think the one lasting result of this storm is that my children have learned the value of cooperation. The aftermath of that lesson will last at least until October when their punishment is over. To their credit, they are acting maturely now, and I am proud of how quickly they learned their lesson.

If only our politicians were such quick learners, then maybe the storms we face as a nation would pass as quietly as this hurricane did.

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Frank Domenico Cipriani writes a weekly column in the Riverside Signal called "You Think What You Think And I'll Think What I Know." He is also the founder and CEO of The Gatherer Institute — a not-for-profit public charity dedicated to promoting respect for the promoting respect for the environment and empowering individuals to become self-taught and self-sufficient. His most recent book, "Learning Little Hawk's Way of Storytelling", teaches the native art of oral tradition storytelling.