July 13, 2007
by Clay Barham

In the early and modern history of America, two significant community disasters contrast the differences in our approach to them.  The first is the current conditions of New Orleans, following the devastation of hurricane Katrina.  The second were the conditions in an American city over a century before Katrina. 

Virginia City, Nevada, 25 miles from Reno, was located on the side of a mountain over six thousand feet above sea level.  Four thousand structures grew in a few short years to serve the needs of that growing community.  Virginia City was a twenty-four-seven factory town of 35,000 people that never slept.  At the time, it was the richest city in the United States, the source of most of America's silver.

Late in the evening of October 25, 1875, in the tornado-like winds of the Washoe Zephyrs and snow flurries, half of the 4,000 structures making up the city burned.  It was a terrible disaster for the people who lived there over 130 years ago.  The people pulled together immediately after the fire, while the embers were still red hot.  No one went without food, clothing, warmth or housing. Every 45 minutes, a train loaded with building supplies would pull into the rail yards for unloading and sent out for more.  Steel, mortar, brick and wood buildings rose to replace those lost.  To help the mortar cure, big fires raged on the streets and provided the heat necessary for workers and mortar.

It took two months to rebuild all but the two largest buildings.  The City rose again by Christmas of 1875, leaving the courthouse and the International Hotel to be finished the following year.  No environmental impact studies were required before the construction began.  No government bureaucrats swarmed into the ruined city to assess damages, allocate relief, issue permits, line their pockets and delay reconstruction.  The work of rebuilding happened because residents and business interests wanted it done.  The city grew stronger, better than before it burned.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina swooped through the Gulf States of America, leaving the City of New Orleans in shambles.  Two years later, not much happened to replace the buildings and return New Orleans to the way it was. Governments at all levels are viewed as the solution, and bureaucrats have swarmed in to set up shop so they can eventually manage the recovery, once agreements, impact studies and permits are decided. American taxpayers are footing the bill for this reconstruction, not so much the residents of New Orleans.  The people of America blame the Federal Government for not doing more to rescue and rebuild the City.  Modern American expectations see these kinds of disasters as a function our government should be taking on.

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Where was the Federal Government after the Virginia City disaster?  It was not involved at all.  Where was the State of Nevada?  It too was not involved.  Americans never considered those two levels of government had any responsibility.  If they knew of the delays and bumbling of bureaucracy in the case of New Orleans, they would not want a cent from either. 

It costs too much to deal with far away governments.  It is far more effective just to deal with those most affected by the disaster.  The expectation prevailed that those most affected were most responsible for getting things back to normal and lick their own wounds and losses. This tradition and culture grew from America's founding almost 400 years ago. It is what some call "rugged individualism," as if it, today, is a negative quality of our culture.

From this contrast between New Orleans of today, and Virginia City of yesterday, we see how far Americans have allowed our culture and traditions to decay.  The United States Government was not created to be our individual or community savior.  We had an individual savior given us 2,000 years ago.  As for community, each of us is the savior of our own front yard.  The Federal Union was a creature of the people to provide protection from invasion and unwanted intervention between states.  There is nothing in American Law that says Washington, D.C., is the fountain of salvation to solve our ills or disasters.  We are led to believe it is, by those who want the power to manage our lives and resources. It is as if, through their compassionate care, all will be right with us.

The early American traditions of personal responsibility, standing on one's own two feet, with liberty to pursue dreams and legitimate self-interest, proved a success.  It created the freest, most prosperous nation in the world.  It eventually dissolved the boundaries of class, religion and race, leading to the greatest happiness for the greatest number ever known.  Now, minions of the Old World dynasties are back in full force, enticing and inducing those unfamiliar with the beauties of their Nation's history, to toss it all out and return to the way it was. 

Dragged back to the Old World by our expectations and our ignorance, to a renewal of the class society where the few elites manage the many, is our new course.  Those two contrasting communities and times, makes it much easier for us to see and understand that course, and what may be lost.

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Clay Barham [send him email] has been a candidate for the California legislature and a stand-in talk show host for ABC.  He was educated in physical and behavioral sciences, with a Ph.D. in sociology.  He is the author of five books, with his latest being Foundations of Modern American Conservatism and Liberalism: The Roots of Freedom and Tyranny.  Visit his website at http://www.claysamerica.com.