NOW is the time to look for that famous silver lining
This is the moment of infinite potential and possibility. That moment when whatever decisions are made about recovery and reconstruction will decide the future ramifications of what the choices are.
The storm has done it's incredible destruction. The people are being rescued right now. Basic services are in the process of being restored, the cleanup is beginning. But people in power right now can make some far reaching decisions about how to go about building for the future. This storm has literally torn up the basic infrastructure of many parts of many states. Everything is connected when it comes to infrastructure. Certainly the weakest links were destroyed first but now hidden in the debris are the next weaker links waiting to collapse because of the strain on them. It's like a house that is still standing but whose foundation has been compromised. It may look sturdy but it's going to come crashing down eventually.
This is when the professionals like engineers, architects, city planners, scientists, politicians, and business leaders who are visionary have that silver lining opportunity to get together and create something that will actually address our future needs. Needs that include actively dealing with the myriad issues of climate change, alternate uses of energy, and it's a golden opportunity to put Americans to work building a new American foundation to withstand the stresses that are already accepted as coming. Our Eastern States are the most densely populated in the country so it's a good place to start laying the structures needed with future oriented technologies. It's like what I assume the builders of the new towers in Manhattan are doing. Taking the horrible destruction of the WTC and building the towers again from the very bottom up, with a much stronger foundation and with the added technology of the most up to date and modern techniques mixed with a critical eye to the future.
I hope this will happen. And in my hope is the knowledge that our choice of who is our next President will make all the difference in how our Northeast States will emerge out of this catastrophic hurricane. The contrast is obvious and I don't need to elaborate on it at all on DU. We know who that man is. I think it's wise to believe that Hurricane Sandy is pretty much a harbinger of things to come. A new normal in our future. It's an opportunity to take that future seriously and maybe start thinking about building structures like the Holland style dykes to protect the vulnerable parts of those Northeast States. If Holland has been able to do it for centuries, surely everyone else in the world can do it too.
Like Al Gore says, we already have the technology. All we need is the will.
And my sig line says all of what's left to say.
= new reply since forum marked as read
K&R
Last edited Fri Nov 2, 2012, 07:02 AM - Edit history (1)
It's considered one of the wonders of the modern world
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_control_in_the_Netherlands
Flood control in the Netherlands
edited for spelling
Last edited Thu Nov 1, 2012, 09:10 AM - Edit history (1)
Thanks for posting that! Here's a photo of it
See what I mean when I say we already have the technology? It's all there and implemented no less!
