The Role of Government in Times of Crisis










We've already discussed your perspectives on the proper role of government. Many people suggested that at minimum, the government should provide a sort of "safety net" for people in need.

View the following stories dealing with communities in crisis. Do you think the government is serving the needs of the people? If so, what is the government doing to help people? If not, what should the government do to help people?

If addressed in the clip, how do the people experiencing crisis view the government's reaction to their situation? Are they satisfied or dissatisfied with government reaction? Explain.

http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/9267491.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/08/28/Soledad.childrenofstorm/index.html

Comments

JessicaB said…
I think that we should have been better prepared for the rain. And even if we couldn't the Gov't should be faster and more willing to help instead of worrying about how much it's going to cost.
Unknown said…
Thats alot of water
amanda 2nd said…
I think that we should have helped before the rain got to bad. Then the people that got hurt probably woundn't have got hurt as bad as they did.
Nichole 2. said…
Government should of acted quickier befor thing got to bad and it could of saved mare people.
Unknown said…
I think that the government made a mistake because the red cross bus is partly under water so the government needs to react fast and move quicker needs to help the peopl.
austin2 said…
i think that the gov't should have planed better.
hcwelke said…
i think that the government is doing responding well to the flooding it seems to be taking awhile but its getting there
Unknown said…
I think the government is doing the best that they can.
Cody 2 said…
i don't think that the gov't is helping because all u hear about it on the news is how much everything is going to cost when they rebuild everything
Haley said…
i dont think the government isnt doing its job from the Hurricane katrina and they should be helping the people from the flood in gays mills
Ruthanne B said…
2 hour- I think that the gov't didn't do a very good job at all with the Midwest flooding or with Hurricane Katrina. The gov't should be worrying about their own country first instead of other countries. Yea sure other countries need help to but I think in order to take care of others we have to take care of ourselves first. There are still people that are in need of homes and food in the Southern states and now there are people in the Midwest that are the same way and the gov't isn't really doing anything to help. Everyone thinks this country is so great but if it's that great then why can't we take care of our own people?
Charles said…
dissatisfied, a majority of the time the government plans before they do ANYTHING. as long as its not them, they think the people could have held out from those storms, while they ruined houses. thogh there is no controlling the weather and they did use evacuation, thats good.
Sam said…
I think that the gov't should have tried to help the people before all the rain came and before people lost everything. We could have saved more people if the gov't had acted ahead of time.
Waltz2 said…
i think the government tries their hardest to do the best job they can in times of crisis.
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Johnsrud2 said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
wilson2 said…
Wow that is extremely sad and tragic. I think that everyone should have been better prepared for everything.
Anonymous said…
The government didn't react well at all to the flooding and hurricanes. Help should have been on the way immediately, but when it did come, it sucked because they didn't pay attention to what people needed.
Johnsrud2 said…
Government... They helped? kinda..not really perpared for it.
J Frawley 2 said…
I Think That We Should Have Been Prepared Instead Of Just Thinking That It Wouldn't Flood That Bad...We Should Have Expected It Because It Hadn't Rained For Quite A While Before That. The Rain Came So Strong That It Just Flooded The Area Really Bad. We Will Be Prepared For Another Crisis This Bad Hopefully.
drake2 said…
dats a lit ot watre!
jd said…
thats wierd becuz even with all the flooding goin on, we still had football practice
Miss Makara said…
The government appears to be trying to help those who lost everything in the flooding and it has been trying to rebuild stores and shops that were lost. Hurricane Katrina survivors weren't so lucky. Giving children camera's to record there sad story and losses seemed depressive. I think the government should get off their lazy butts and help those in need, don't give them cameras! Give them Help! The government needs to step up and help those buy providing temporary homes, supplies, and provide a continueing education for children and young people.
Dague2 said…
I don't think there was really anything the government could do before it was too late. Our country was really unprepared for something like that and i think it shows with how long it is taking to rebuild. We're a pretty rich and advance country, New Orleans should be better than it every was before the flood by now.
Maggie said…
So...last weekend I had a 3-hour-long discussion with someone about the role of government. He said that, after the constitution, the government should only be responsible for the police and all that stuff. He said that the government should not take care about health care, unemployment, that people who are not able to work shouldn't get support from the government. He even was angry that there was "so much money" spent to help the people in New Orleans after Katrina...
It made me really mad, because I think government should definately help the people who need help quickly. His ideas are just ridiculous. Who else would help those people if not the government?
It's unacceptable that people in New Orleans still have to live like that. The government should help those people (instead of spending all that money on the war. )
Anyways, I finally gave up on that discussion and went to bed because I was so sick of listening to that narrow-minded person talking. Grrr...
sydney2 said…
this is soo sad.
the whole katrina thing
people lost there homes and had to take care of there family...
schwartz2 said…
I think that the governmwnt should give the victims of the flood and the hurricans money to rebuild their homes. After all it isn't like they can't afford it.
Palmer2 said…
I think that the government needs to get kmore involved and help out others that are need. I think they look at what needs to be done and then they ignore. It ends up having a community on their own doing something!
wonderwoman said…
i think this comment is going to post...i hope so
warner2 said…
I think the gov't just needs to react a little quicker. I mean we still had practice.
perry2 said…
its nice to have that much water, it cleaned out the river ?
leanne2 said…
i just feel soo bad for those kids in katrina because i cnt even imagine not having a house and no place to live.
miller2 said…
i think the government should have steped up and helped ou a little more. they are there to serve and protect us arnt they? then why not give us a hand when we need it the most?

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