(Note: I wrote this article seven months ago. Rather than revisiting it, I am reprinting it):

Cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good,
Now, cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.
                                                    (Led Zeppelin When the Levee Breaks)

one year ago, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast and devastated communities like the grand city of New Orleans. In the aftermath of the disaster, easily the most significant national disaster to strike the North American continent this soon into the 21st century, citizens rushed to answer the eternal question that plagued their minds. They asked why their government had allowed them to suffer the effects of this horrific storm. The answer is one they continue to refuse to accept; that the government did not fail them, but rather, they had failed themselves.

For years they had lived in the shadow of the levee, living out their lives and the continuing ritual of life, death, joy and tragedy playing itself out in the shadow of the levee, that they trusted for their continual protection. They assumed that the levee would always be there and that it would always hold, because in their memories, it always did. Despite the fact that scientists had long given warnings about the effects that a category 5 hurricane would do to the levee, they continued to assume it would always hold, because in their memories, it always did. As the maelstrom approached and they were ordered out of the city, many chose not to evacuate because they assumed it would always hold because, in their memories, it always did. As the course of the storm became increasingly clear, they chose to stay in their homes and wait it out because they assumed it would always hold because, in their memories, it always did.

And when it hit, with a fury that could only be likened to the wrath of God, and their homes were flooded and their lives turned upside down, they cried out "WHY?" in a loud voice that echoed from that coastal region to the halls of Washington DC. WHY was the government not able to resuce them from this onslaught? Why was the aid that arrived not quick enough? And they answered the questions in their own minds, blaming everyone from the governor of the state to the President.

There was certainly blame to be had, and some of it justly fell on FEMA director Michael Brown, who was ill-equipped for the task for which he had been appointed. But the blame that rightly belonged on the citizens who had chosen to trust the levee despite warnings against it, went unheard.

For all of my life and a significant portion of all of our lives, we, too, have lived under the shadow of a levee. It is not a levee of earth, of concrete, or of steel, but a levee of entitlements and a levee of dependence. We trust that we will never have to take a personal hand in guiding our own destiny because the levee will be there to protect us, because in our memories, it always has. We trust that we will have a retirement entirely subsidized by the government without any initiative on our own part because the levee will be there to protect us, because in our memories, it always has. We trust that when we starve, there will always be food on our table provided by the government bank to protect us, because, in our memories, it always has. We trust that we will never be forced to make a significant decision to steer the course of our lives because the government will do it, because in our memories, it always has. We have become entirely too dependent on the levee.

In 1929, far too long ago for most of us to remember, the levee broke. The ensuing decade saw a generation of Americans that, with firm resolve, worked to rebuild their nation. They developed a sense of community, a sense of understanding the importance of self reliance, and a sense of compassion for their fellow human. When their lives were rebuilt, however, they set about to rebuild the levee, but to build it bigger, stronger, better. But it required massive maintenance costs.

The levee held for many years. In the 1960's, they built it higher with the Great Society, but with cheaper materials, with an economic basis that was unsustainable. This newer, higher levee needed constant maintenance to provide the protection they desired. And that maintenance took money that the government simply did not have. So the government took more and more, but the levee always required more than the citizens could provide.

Our current generation consists of a working class that has never known a life outside the shadow of the levee. We have almost come to ignore the levee's existence, because we trust in it to protect us, because it always has, it always will.

But there's a storm on the horizon, and when that storm strikes, the levee will break. And it will break hard. And we will cry out to the government for answers, but ignore the blame that lies on our own parts.

The solution is not to rebuild the levee, or to shore it up. THIS levee should not be mended. The solution is to move to higher ground, to remove ourselves from the shadow of the levee and build on ground where we are not dependent on the levee to protect us. There may be times when we need to sandbag our rivers from the raging floods, but those times are temporary, and we can and should deal with them as they arise. That is only proper; it is only human. But we should not continue to live in a floodplain where disaster is inevitable; and if we do, we must assume the inevitable tragic outcome.

There is more to the human spirit than any of us know. The human spirit drove America's minorities to press for rights, often in the face of certain death. It drove a depression generation to make unimaginable sacrifices to build a future of hope for future generations. It drove rugged individualists to push across the great frontier and build this great nation. And it can, and will drive us to build a better future, if we only allow ourselves to EXERCISE that human spirit.

Let us TEAR DOWN the levee before the storms hit, and after we have moved the citizens living in its shadows to higher ground. Let us TEACH a generation that has considered entitlements to be their birthright the concept of self reliance and of building communities. And let us bask in the light of liberty that only true independence can know.