Topic: Government's Responsibilities
Flight 1549's Hudson River Rescue Proves Government Can't Keep Up It was private individuals, not government rescuers, who saved the passengers of Flight 1549by Walt Thiessen
(libertarian)
Sunday, January 18, 2009
The heroics of the pilot of Flight 1549 which endured an emergency landing in the Hudson River this past week has been rightfully lauded by newspapers, magazines, TV, and radio in the days since the incident. The passengers have all been interviewed and reinterviewed so they can express their delight at how well the whole story worked out without a single fatality or even a serious injury. Eyewitnesses including newscaster Robin Roberts of ABC have told the heroic story to every known media outlet. And the captains, crews, and passengers of the ferry ships that snatched the passengers from the freezing cold waters of the Hudson River have been given the same, heroic accolades that the pilot received, accolades that were richly deserved.
The only thing missing from most reports was the recognition that the success of the non-tragedy was due entirely to the efforts of private individuals either employed by private companies or simply doing what comes naturally...helping someone in imminent distress, while government officials responding to the scene responded too little, too late. This is not intended to be a swipe at said government officials. Rather, it's intended to remind us all that government is nearly always poorly positioned to really help in an emergency, and they are the last we should expect to be able to handle emergencies most efficiently.
Tornado aftermaths, 9/11, Katrina, Flight 1549....the list is nearly endless. It's always private people doing what private people do in emergencies that save the day, not government officials.
It's great to have a happy story in the news rather than the usual tragedy, death, and destruction that readers hungrily absorb on a daily basis, even if the media insisted on finding ways to dramatize it as much as possible in order to sell even more advertising. However, the hidden lesson in the story was ignored by most of them. It is that government simply is incapable of responding with heart, determination, and compassion as well as private individuals actually do on a daily basis.
I wonder how many more such events have to happen before people finally learn?
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The views expressed in this
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You greatly misunderstand the role that GOVERNMENT is supposed to play in situations like this. They are not supposed to be the first ones on the spot. They are the ones who GUARANTEE that the event will be INVESTIGATED, not covered up like your esteemed private airlines company would like it to be. What could have been done, what should be done, when will it be done? Those are all questions that GOVERNMENT is intended to enforce. To insist that government is going to be everywhere in every instance is the kind of UNREASONABLE expectations that only someone who wants to criticize would assert.
Not only that, but the GOVERNMENT ~ through regulations, inspections, laws, safety requirements, etc. ~ has probably PREVENTED hundreds of these incidents BEFORE they happen. If it weren't for GOVERNMENT agencies investigating these occurrences, and REQUIRING revisions, changes, and even new precautions when necessary, there would be NO CHANGES because the private sector tries to get by with as LITTLE as they can when it comes to spending money on things that don't create revenue.
If you want GOVERNMENT everywhere doing everything, then you might have to cough up some MORE TAXES. Do you want that? That's why there's a margin of error in many of the risks that people are exposed to ~ hurricanes, crime, traffic accidents, and airline crashes. Government is not MEANT to be perfect. It is meant to make sure that actions that SHOULD be taken but AREN'T are corrected.
When all you do is LOOK for deficiencies, it's easy to find them. Not just in government, but in your OWN actions as well. Try being a little more realistic, compassionate, and forgiving and the world will look much brighter to you. If you think that ONE catholic priest, for instance, who is a pedophile represents the tens of thousands of others who are NOT, you're just looking to criticize. Those kinds of examples don't prove YOUR point, they prove MINE.
Posted By: Walt Thiessen
Date: 2009-01-18 15:48:54
Master C, your entire ridiculous rebuttal is based on a false premise...that the government really made all that happen in the background in little ways, and without those government actions the good would never have been done. Just as you falsely paint libertarian ideals, you falsely paint real world human action.
I know you can't possibly conceive of this without giving up your fantasy world, but people actually do good things without government intervention. In fact, virtually every good act that people do, they do with no thought or concern for government at all. They did them before government micromanagement came along, and they continue to to them regardless of government micromanagement.
I realize this undermines your position, and therefore you'll continue to deny reality by pretending that what I said isn't true. I can't control that. All I can do is point out where reality is. It's up to you whether you decide to ignore that reality, as you repeatedly do in your rhetoric.
Your comments don't undermine my position in any way. I recognize that many things can, and are, done without government involvement. I made a cheese sandwich today and no one in the government helped me. So what?
On the other hand, your COMPLETE disrespect for, contempt of, and criticism of government so distorts your views and understanding of the role that government plays that you can't see the forest for the trees.
Even the exalted role of private businesses NEEDS to be regulated, investigated, and reprimanded by an overseeing government. You're old enough to remember the work world before OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act). Places used to post signs in front of their businesses bragging that they only had 2 or 3 deaths, or less than 15 lost-time injuries. My first job was as the Safety Director of a very sizeable corporation and we had to spend $200,000 - $300,000 just for machine guarding and lift truck training, etc after our very first inspection. Management just crapped their drawers! They even wanted to see if they could get out of it! But, all those changes have certainly improved workplaces everywhere in America.
You just seem to think that there is an INCOMPATIBILITY between private interests and those of an overseeing government. That's like saying that your children don't need an overseeing parent when they're doing grown up things. And, wouldn't that be anti-Libertarian to MAKE someone do things they might not want to do? Like brush their teeth... go to bed at 10:00pm... ask Mom before using her new oven mitts to play catch with. Isn't it just heart wrenching when we sometimes have to do things we don't want to do!
To blame the GOVERNMENT for not being on the site of that airplane landing, or for not doing better after Katrina, etc. shows the same ingratitude for the things they DID DO, and are STILL DOING that your mob of Libertarians wouldn't even attempt.
Helping others, sharing resources, providing for those who can't provide for themselves are concepts as foreign to Libertarians as playing the piano is to chimps.
I admire your sense of democracy and justice, and suggest you an all Americans not to forget the ashemd 9/11 Comission . The Bush administration is going away, but they have to respond for the victims and we world citizens need an answer!
Posted By: Andrew Hughes
Date: 2009-01-19 03:54:54
Hi Walt,
I think the main point to take from the article is that people can come together with courage and humanity to help their fellow human beings. These qualities, more than ever, will be what counts as the nation approaches its own Hudson River crash landing.
In reply to: "That's like saying that your children don't need an overseeing parent when they're doing grown up things"
That is exaclty the main problem with big government: It turns all its citizens into dependent CHILDREN. In order to grow up, be self-suficient and accept all responsibilities we need LESS government no more. The government should not be a parent nor a nanny.
But for children like you, we need handcuffs and straightjackets! You don't know your own delusions well enough to let you run wild. Just like that 9 year old who thinks they know how to handle a gun, we've got to help you understand that you can hurt people with it.
Your ideas of what government should and shouldn't do are about as far-sighted as Mr. Magoo. We NEVER need LESS government when there are vermin who still don't understand how a constitutional government works, and who continue to rot the fringes of America.
MC: you may be much older in age but if you look deep through your wrinkled skin and thick head you will see a little boy crying out for help from daddy Government. If your sibling has a better toy, you want your daddy (the government) to force him to share it with you. If your sibling hits you in the face, you want your daddy to ground him. If your sibling is retarded you want your daddy to hide him in the basement. If you are sick, you still want your mommy (the government) to bring you a warm soup and take care of you, etc... The more you rely on a government to take care of you or to control your fellow citizens the more of a child you become.
Carl, What amazes me is that this is the same government that sent you to Vietnam when you were a kid, against your own will. They sent you there to kill people you personally had no conflicts with nor care for them. Yet you still defend that same government. That is like the "battered wife syndrome" its like you are an abused child yet still defend your daddy for beating you up. That government abused you and used you like a little whore when they sent you to Vietnam. You were owned by them. They were your pimp. Is that really freedom?
Thankfully today the draft is gone. But there are other minor things like raising the drinking age to 21 that resulted in more irresponsible binge drinking by those under age who would otherwise be considered young adults.
No, I don't need hanbdcuffs or straight jackets, but as a former magician, I know how to escape from them. I have harmed nobody and helped plenty of people in need.
You on the other hand, after all those years of pot smoking, acid intake and killing people your government disagreed with, might need some checks above the neck. Do you still have the images in your head of those people your government forced you to kill?
I never had to kill anyone. But, I hated the fact that I was drafted, and that I might have had to kill some people with whom I had no disagreement.
But, as my father explained it to me when he and I had a long talk after I got my induction notice, "These are the sacrifices we have to make to maintain our society. Nobody wants to go, but we do it so that others can carry on."
I suppose a lot of the boys who had to fight the British, the French, the Mexicans, the Indians, and even each other during the Civil War felt the same way. Read the "Red Badge of Courage" and you'll see the doubts, fears, and reluctance that many of us had fighting in battles we didn't understand or agree with.
But, just because you disagree with something doesn't mean that you can't see the "bigger picture". I hate wearing SEAT BELTS for instance. Not because they might save my life or they're a nuisance, or whatever, just because I HATE someone ~ the government in this case ~ telling me that I HAVE to wear them. I was even one of the speakers at a town hall meeting back in the 80's when they were soliciting comments about whether seat belts should be mandatory or not. I opposed making them mandatory.
But, I lost. I expressed my opinion, and more people WANTED them to be mandatory than wanted them to be voluntary.
In your case, you think that you have to DEFY everything you disagree with. That's the road to ANARCHY and CHAOS! Without the rule of law, and the ability to PEACEFULLY resolve issues of disagreement, you no longer have a civilization, you have a WOLFPACK. The strongest do whatever they want to the weaker.
I don't believe in a system like that. And your way is not a system, it's just defiance.
Posted By: John Armstrong
Date: 2009-01-20 22:48:06
Master C,
When are people going to learn that you are simply an intelligent guy who asks these questions/raises ridiculous points that the average person would make so that the author can respond to said comment? I love what you do. Keep it up.
That line about your first job being a safety inspector is just priceless. Where'd you come up with that one?
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