Calamity

One great point hammered home by the BP disaster is that we aren't as snug and cozy as we like to think. Regardless of the administration in the White House, we simply don't have the security network to either prevent huge disasters or deal with them effectively.

Katrina proved that just as clearly as this disaster.

Maybe all those "Ten Signs of the Apocalypse" shows aren't really that far off. Maybe our secure way of life is not as safe as we like to think.

It's a reminder that our world is not like it is portrayed in the movies, such as the ludicrous Armageddon where the government has spotted a killer asteroid headed for earth and they just happen to have two shuttles prepped to head to the asteroid to drill into it and drop in nukes. The same is true for the equally ludicrous 2012 where the government predicts a major disaster coming and manage to construct some huge 'arks' to preserve life.

Where was this kind of safety net when the oil platform blew out or the dikes broke?

But maybe we can learn from these disasters.

I'm currently watching a documentary called Sputnik Mania on my iPod.

Right now I'm at the point where America is about to really get involved in the space program to compete with the Russians. Really, we're just worried that they have an inter-continental missile that can reach us. But we mobilized some of the best minds in math and science and turned a joke (our space program) into the world's best program in little over a decade or so.

Do we as a people, a nation, and a government have the ability to do this now to either prevent or prepare for disasters. Or, best of all, maybe this will really kick into gear the Green Revolution Friedman has been calling for. Maybe in ten years we'll be the leaders in green fuels and restore ourselves as THE power of the 21st century.