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At Long Last, Mr. President…

Steve Dubb
October 12, 2017
By United Press International telephoto [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

October 12, 2017; Washington Post

Hurricane Maria only hit Puerto Rico three weeks ago. The Washington Post reports that 84 percent of the Island’s 3.5 million residents are still without power, with many not expected to see their power restored for months, and yet apparently, the Trump administration is already growing weary of the disaster relief effort.

Just two weeks ago, President Trump said, “We will not rest … until the people of Puerto Rico are safe … These are great people. We want them to be safe and sound and secure. And we will be there every day until that happens.” That speech was given on September 29th.  Today, however, Trump seems to be tiring already, sending out a tweet this morning that read “We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!”

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Of course, just in case this requires explanation, disaster recovery is not a quick business. When San Francisco suffered the 1906 earthquake, recovery lasted at least a decade. More recently, New Orleans has a similar story of slow recovery to tell, as this ten-year retrospective on Katrina makes clear. As NPQ’s Cyndi Suarez highlights, the Puerto Rican community and the Puerto Rican diaspora stateside is fully mobilized. That said, the work ahead is massive. In addition to the not-so-simple task of disaster recovery, there is a legacy of colonialism (as exemplified by the Jones Act) that must be confronted and climate change challenges that must be addressed for Puerto Rico’s residents to rebuild an economy that can be thriving and sustainable.

Of course, we recognize that the President’s latest tweet might be reversed by another tweet tomorrow. But even though we are used to tuning a lot of the noise out, when you’re playing with the lives of 3.5 million American citizens, we need to hold our leaders to a higher standard.

In 1954, at the Army hearings, US Army attorney Joseph Welch asked Senator Joseph McCarthy, “Have you no sense of decency?” This question has never been more appropriate for our current president than now.—Steve Dubb

About the author
Steve Dubb

Steve Dubb is senior editor of economic justice at NPQ, where he writes articles (including NPQ’s Economy Remix column), moderates Remaking the Economy webinars, and works to cultivate voices from the field and help them reach a broader audience. Prior to coming to NPQ in 2017, Steve worked with cooperatives and nonprofits for over two decades, including twelve years at The Democracy Collaborative and three years as executive director of NASCO (North American Students of Cooperation). In his work, Steve has authored, co-authored, and edited numerous reports; participated in and facilitated learning cohorts; designed community building strategies; and helped build the field of community wealth building. Steve is the lead author of Building Wealth: The Asset-Based Approach to Solving Social and Economic Problems (Aspen 2005) and coauthor (with Rita Hodges) of The Road Half Traveled: University Engagement at a Crossroads, published by MSU Press in 2012. In 2016, Steve curated and authored Conversations on Community Wealth Building, a collection of interviews of community builders that Steve had conducted over the previous decade.

More about: Nonprofit NewsPolicyPuerto RicoTrump Administration

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