Opus 2024-318: The American way

As I have been looking at the efforts of Americans to help other Americans recover from the destruction of Asheville, my mind went back to my personal experiences.

Somewhere in the last couple years we had a major event here in Texas, where the storm came through, the wind blew, and the combination of wet ground and extreme winds brought down trees all over the area.  After the assault was over I surveyed my kingdom and realize that some work needed to be done.  Trees have gone over, branches had broken off, my little world was a mess.  It was no tragedy.  It was nothing comparable to what people are going through in North Carolina.  But I was wondering how I was going to take care of it.  I’m getting old, and I don’t have the equipment to remove major trunks of trees.

Not to worry.  My neighbors are Americans.  I came out one day to find that my neighbor, his wife and his adult children were busy taking care of my problem.  They have chainsaws, a wood chipper, tractors, you name it they have it.  They brought it all with them, and before you know it, the tree that came down, was cut up into manageable links, loaded on the trailer and hauled off to be disposed of.  They even brought their blowers in and cleaned off all the walkways.  It was awesome.

What Asheville needs it’s not the federal government coming in like the benevolent grandpa and bailing people out.  What Asheville needs is the federal government to get out of the way, and let Americans be Americans.

homo unius libri