Ptamas's comment:
If we create linear, top-down governance systems, they are like a string of xmas lights; one bulb goes out and the whole string fails.Right now we are all about standing up local government. This means we help local government deliver services (output legitimacy). The way we do this changes citizens into clients. They don't have to put anything in to get something out (no inputs required). This breeds dependency. We all know that. Dependency is a deficit. It tells us part of what is wrong, not what to grow.
My friend did acute pediatric care in an urban hospital--lots of crack babies. He always marveled at the will to live; like in Jurassic Park---life will out. Most evident in any area faced with a natural disaster; immediately after, people struggle to get back on their feet---with or without international assistance. Baby needs to eat every day.
Somehow, we have created a consistent and repeating system of dependency that, over and again, either gets in the way of, or fails to ignite the natural instinct of people and communities to regenerate themselves.
It just should not be so hard, with human and community systems, to stabilize and reconstruct communities. We have a profound systemic error in our approaches that creates what ptamas described.
Resilience, like sustainability, lies beyond our approaches.
Last edited by davidbfpo; 03-24-2010 at 08:51 AM. Reason: Add quotes
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