Election lessons from Sandy

[catzmeow]

From Sandy, a lesson for election - CNN.com

See, what we used to call the commons -- the resources and technologies used by everyone -- are what make individual success even possible. A shared resource like the Internet may allow great entrepreneurs to break from the pack to achieve wild success, but they need to continue to invest in the commons, not as a form of charity or penance but as a self-interested strategy for their own sustainability.

Or, put another way, the family that shares its electricity and living room with less fortunate storm victims will have more friends collecting firewood when the lights go out the next day. Those of us who got hit hard will remember who was there with an open hand, and who wasn't. As the checkout lady at the A&P said to me this morning, "it takes something like this for people to show their true colors." Then she added, with a smile, "at least now you know."

People who managed to succeed in the crisis employed mixed strategies. They did make wise personal preparations -- such as wood stoves instead of ineffectual fireplaces, natural gas generators instead of gasoline ones, a good supply of stored food and water. But they also employed ones that showed an awareness of the need for infrastructure, the importance of longer term thinking, and the strength of community.

If you've never needed help, it's probably not because you're better than the so-called 47%. It may just be that you were luckier. And, that's a random, whimsical kind of thing.