It is easy to compare preparing for the next onslaught of a Hurricane with preparations countries make before going to war. One would think that with the record made by this hurricane season that at least some thought would be given to establishing a military type organization that could be devoted to hurrying to endangered places BEFORE the storm hit in order to evacuate, prepare housing, have food and water ready and a PLAN for rebuilding and repairing the damage.

It is like preparing for war, you know.  And, with our scientific advances that tell us in good time that a storm is of a certain number and will take a certain course are a great help.  But with the disorganization of different states and the indifference of the Federal government there is a paralysis that seizes people at all levels and the results are chaos.  In a war, that we sometimes find ourselves in without knowing how we got there, we are forced to prepare a lot better.  We know that our young will have to be sacrificed to do the fighting while their elders sit safely at home and make plans far from the scene of action.  Our science is so advanced that we can fight with drones and robots and most of the casualties will be from accidents.  This new kind of warfare is not here at home where we wrestle with Nature, and Natures’ anger by wind, water and fire. Fighting Nature is unconventional warfare in the same way conventional storms are quite different from “storms of the century”.  Having to fight an unseen enemy hearkens back to the militias of the American Revolution who did not fight the British (who were very conventional) with divisions facing divisions but from behind trees and rocks picking off the enemy with ease.

We have not prepared for Wilma just like we have not prepared for her predecessors.  We have not prepared for a war of attrition in Iraq despite what the administration insists is “progress”. Actually, the ones getting hurt are not the fat cats who have gotten their tax rebates or the big companies that are given contracts to do the clean up work; those who are getting hurt are the old, the infirm, the young and the dilatory ones who did not get out of the way of either storm or war.

Once more we should spend some time before going into this breach to try to stop the waves (was it an apoplectic Xerxes who had his soldiers lash the waves for being stormy while he wanted to send his boats out to attack the Greeks?) or to make things better in a bad war. What we should do is take to heart the new science of Intelligent Design and accept that hurricanes and wars are part of life and we will just have to put up with the inconvenience.  So, altogether now, get down on your knees and pray that Wilma will soften to a light rain while our soldiers will be immune from the attacks of people who don’t want them there anymore.