When the water level drops in a seismic active area....

Well the water level decline that we should be focused on is the rapid
decline in education, economics, and income distribution. New Orleans was
under water in more than a sea level comparison, and so are most major
metro areas where income inequities are 20 or 30 to 1, Add in border areas,
and other locations where income and education fail and diversity
increases.

There are two areas that keep hopelessness and absolute chaos from taking
control. One hope is the hope given by a route that is known to work, even
for a few, but others hang on to this and pass it on to children and
neighbors and family. This usually involves education and hard work and
some measure of belief in the good nature and effectiveness of government.

The second area is of hope is the hope that comes from being in the
challenge together with family, community, or a larger body (state, nation,
religion).There is also some hope provided by distant nations that respond
as a global community.

It is not an easy time to live, advocate, or lead. What we seem to need
more and more is people involvement yet we have sad deficits in this area,
perhaps being too busy is one area but we are also overwhelmed.

Over the past century we have faced wars, pandemics, depression, and
recession. As individuals we have faced many traumas. It used to be that
the carnage was limited to those in the major metro areas seeing the
nightly news. As the dysfunction spread to other large cities and smaller
ones, we had more. Then came CNN and the internet and 24 hour overwhelming
situations. Never in our previous history have we been fed so much
disaster, devastation, and destruction on a daily basis.

Second, we have never really problem solved effectively as a nation or
across the planet in decades. In many ways we have not had to do so. There
were always easy ways out. The easy choices are no longer available and
when they are taken, they end up costing more in the long run.

The United States does a particularly poor job in multiple areas of
consumption. maldistributions of education, economics, etc. The problem
solving is a challenge when infrastructures in education, health, and
economics are failing. Rebuilding a nation where infrastructure is gone is
a much different process compared to recovery in Germany and Japan.
Recovery in Appalachia also failed since schools and state investments
somehow took a few generations to return to areas that favored the winning
side. The methods used to destroy the health, culture, and discipline of
the Native tribes (separating the eldest females from their clan and
children from their people) were extremely effective, but poorly studied
and understood and applied to recovery.

Hope, togetherness, problem solving, infrastructure.

Beeper again.     Off to see some more results of failed infrastructure
with few resources and little effectiveness, but still hopeful.

Robert C. Bowman, M.D.
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