As a resident of Florida, I have lived through several hurricanes. And if there is one enduring constant in all of them it is this: no matter how much advance warning is provided, no matter how many times you tell people to be prepared, there will always be some who refuse to listen–and they will always be the ones who complain the loudest afterwards. Yet such willful ignorance is not restricted to storm preparation. It is the essence of the larger argument occurring in American politics: where does the welfare state end, and self-reliance begin?

No one in their right mind wishes any fellow human being to suffer unnecessarily. But what about when such suffering is willfully self-inflicted? For the last few decades, the American left has told us that the ravages of the human condition–poverty, addiction, crime, etc.–are primarily the result of circumstances beyond the scope of individual control. Are they? Certainly some people are genuinely helpless. But many others are irresponsible dolts.

Where does one draw the line?

As Hurricane Gustav bears down on the Gulf Coast, we are seeing evidence that both sides of “the line” are being addressed: on one hand, government is doing its best to evacuate people, open shelters, shore up supplies and prepare for emergencies as best they can. On the other, New Orleans emergency preparedness director Jerry Sneed has told residents that those who ignore orders to leave accept “all responsibility for themselves and their loved ones.”

Reality: too many Americans know the second part of the above equation is a lie. No matter how irresponsibly some people behave, they EXPECT the government to mitigate that irresponsibility.

During his campaign, Barack Obama has confirmed such expectations: government is no longer to be the last resort, something one turns to when all personal solutions to a problem are exhausted. It is to be the first resort, making personal effort to alleviate one’s own problems unnecessary–and the distinction between genuine need and willful irresponsibility irrelevant.

According to today’s Democrats, every American is a victim of something–for which government provides the only “cure.” JFK’s inaugural declaration, “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country?” Blasphemy.

We all know that when Gustav passes, emergency preparedness director Jerry Sneed and his minions will be busy doing exactly what they implied they would not: rescuing New Orleans residents who refused to act responsibly. We also know that if they fail even one of those residents, a mainstream media looking for any opportunity to promote government ineptitude or “heartlessness” will be waiting to pounce.

Question: what happens if the Jerry Sneeds of the world–perhaps suffused with the American left’s conviction that personal responsibility is “passe’”–also decide to sit around and wait for “someone else” to do something?

atahlert@comcast.net

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