I was in an office building in downtown Washington, only a few blocks from the Capitol when the earthquake hit. As a native of the East Coast, I had never experienced an earthquake before, and I hope I never have to again. I was literally and figuratively shocked.
Thirty minutes later I was shocked again; to learn that there had been so little damage. Buildings that had moments earlier shook vigorously, to be sure, but then came quietly to rest. Those buildings were then evacuated quickly and orderly. Government officials from cops to security guards to park rangers were right at hand to help and explain. People were kind, helpful and calm.
I hailed a cab and waited in traffic, but when I finally got to Union Station, Amtrak was running, organized and admitting anyone with a ticket. I boarded a train that was only an hour delayed, and made it home to New York five hours later.
I arrived home to find my entire family safe and sound, my home and city still standing.
Was this a miracle? Perhaps, but mostly I thank government.
In his inauguration speech, President Reagan said "government is the problem." A large segment of our population takes this to be an article of faith. He was wrong and they are wrong, and today proved it. Government was instrumental in keeping a major seismic event from becoming a tragic disaster.
--Legally mandated building codes ensured that our homes and offices were structurally designed to withstand earthquakes, even though they are not frequent here, and the buildings stood.
--Cops, firefighters, and transit workers swung into action to keep people safe, informed and calm.
--A robust public infrastructure was in place, and was strong enough to stay up and running with minimal disruption, so the trains and busses still ran more or less on time.
--Public information services such as NotifyNYC gave us real time updates on conditions.
Now, compare that to Hurricane Katrina, a Category 5 storm in which billions were lost, millions were dislocated and scores were killed.
--Weak levies allowed the lower parts of New Orleans to flood.
--The city state and federal government had, at the time, failed to plan to evacuate citizens in the most vulnerable areas.
--the response at every level was feckless, slow and disorderly.
I consider this, in my life, to be a miraculous day, but really it was no miracle and no accident. The result was as manmade as Katrina. It was the result of a society cohesive enough to care about its citizens, and a government strong enough, caring enough and honest enough to mitigate natures slings and arrows.
Today government was not just a critical part of the solution, it was the solution. The virtues of our progressive values came to life and bloomed in technicolor. And on a personal level, my city, state and federal government took me in hand, kept me safe and got me home.
To those who deride government and blame it for being the source of all our problems, let today serve as a powerful rebuttal. When we neglect our government, we create the problems, but when we work together, as we all did today, to make our government effective, government is the solution.