I'm actually very glad to see something like this - the government asking people to prepare themselves and work for their own security, rather than a neurotic population screaming about how vulnerable we are. Ok, that statement was a bit over the top, but for those who didn't see it, this article from the previous Foreign Affairs outlined the lack of resiliency of our population pretty well:
America the Resilient
Defying Terrorism and Mitigating Natural Disasters
By Stephen E. Flynn
From Foreign Affairs , March/April 2008
More at link. . .When it comes to managing the hazards of the twenty-first century, it is reckless to relegate the American public to the sidelines. During the Cold War, the threat of nuclear weapons placed the fate of millions in the hands of a few. But responding to today's challenges, the threats of terrorism and natural disasters, requires the broad engagement of civil society. The terrorists' chosen battlegrounds are likely to be occupied by civilians, not soldiers. And more than the loss of innocent lives is at stake: a climate of fear and a sense of powerlessness in the face of adversity are undermining faith in American ideals and fueling political demagoguery. Sustaining the United States' global leadership and economic competitiveness ultimately depends on bolstering the resilience of its society. Periodically, things will go badly wrong. The United States must be prepared to minimize the consequences of those eventualities and bounce back quickly.
Resilience has historically been one of the United States' great national strengths. It was the quality that helped tame a raw continent and then allowed the country to cope with the extraordinary challenges that occasionally placed the American experiment in peril. From the early settlements in Virginia and Massachusetts to the westward expansion, Americans willingly ventured into the wild to build better lives. During the epic struggles of the American Revolution, the American Civil War, and the two world wars; occasional economic downturns and the Great Depression; and the periodic scourges of earthquakes, epidemics, floods, and hurricanes, Americans have drawn strength from adversity. Each generation bequeathed to the next a sense of confidence and optimism about the future.
But this reservoir of self-sufficiency is being depleted.
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/200803...tml?mode=print
Regards,
Matt
Bookmarks