Hurricane Sandy Knocks Down the Privatizers

A friend asked why I like J.J. Abrams' new TV series, Revolution, and other post-apocalyptic shows like Frank Darabont's The Walking Dead.

The reason is such mega-disaster plots explore fundamental questions about social contract theory that otherwise are not widely discussed in any manner in an American society seemingly capable of inflicting anything onto itself and the world.

Has nothing to do with watching Zombies get wasted by the survivors of the bio-apocalypse, though this is gratifying as well.

Why do we live in a society if not precisely for protecting the will (as Patrick Riley writes), the liberty and rights of citizens?

Mitt Romney and the current band of crazies see everything as a means to serve for-profit corporations (the very few), suggesting that we even privatize FEMA, though of course Romney still refuses to comment now on past positions in the realistic hope few will notice.

There are other points of view.

These points of view ought to be endlessly discussed in a thinking society. Here's a start.

From the White House:

"There are still millions of people without power and many whose neighborhoods have been damaged or destroyed by water, heavy winds, and falling trees. The President promised to bring the full weight of federal resources to bear in helping those victims recover."