Whiteout

 

I would like to say (but would need to think about it further) that Americans need little excuse to prepare for a disaster, natural or otherwise; that we are more comfortable in a state of emergency than in the doldrums of routine. So a few years ago, we were told to use duct tape and plastic sheeting to protect ourselves from terrorism, and today we get instructions to "shelter in place" because it's going to snow this weekend. I say this because these disasters, so-called, keep on happening; multiple once-in-a-lifetime storms are now routine each year, and each time, no one could have predicted that it would happen again. ("No one could have predicted," incidentally, was George W. Bush's favorite phrase and would be the proper title for his next biography.)

With snowstorms every other week, and surely another crisis to follow once it gets warmer, it might be that we're living in a state of permanent emergency. It might even be (though I hesitate to say it) that we enjoy this state. And at the same time that we worry so much about snow, hurricanes, and war, we won't even take minimal steps to fund long-term preparedness for emergencies. We won't spend money or intellectual energy on public health, meaningful security or adaptation to climate change. What I'm saying is that the D.C. government could stand to buy more snowplows. In the meantime, we'll wait in line at the grocery store to buy toilet paper, which everyone seems to need all of a sudden. The above photo is the pastry shelf at Whole Foods.