American exceptionalism and the potential American downfall

And, how it could affect Peak Oil aftermath

Rod Dreher of The Dallas Morning News thinks the size and nature of the federal bureaucracy, regardless of conservative or liberal elected political leadership, prevents — and will continue to prevent — federal responses to events like Hurricane Katrina from being as satisfactory as the afflicted might like.

It’s a partially right, and simplistic answer.

On the simplistic side, most events as large and divers as Katrina and the post-Katrina response simply can’t be boiled down to one cause.

On the partially right issue, beyond the simplicity, I see another cause.

Here, it’s not a question of federal response, but public disbelief in the possibility of such disasters.

I contend part of the problem is -- American exceptionalism -- or the concept thereof, held by many conservatives and liberals alike, whether explicitly tied to a religious backgrounding for it or not.

Americans continue to believe that: "Event X (whatever, fill in the blank) can't happen here."

They thought a terrorist attack couldn't occur here, even though it already had nearly a decade earlier. They thought that hurricane couldn't become the "perfectly imperfect storm," if you will, even though presidents from both parties had cut Corps funding for levee improvements AND the Corps had itself essentially caused much of the problem with upstream levees for years beforehand.

There's also an adjunct to American exceptionalism -- the worship of technology, engaged in by Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, secular and religious alike.

It is most exmplifying itself in the refusal of elected leaders of both parties to seriously discuss Peak Oil, and just how hard of a slog it is going to be to deal with that, especially if the peak's downside is precipitously, not mildly, sloped.