|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The MPA in Emergency and Disaster Management
| |
SubscribeLinksRecent Posts
Categories
ResourcesMCNY BlogsMCNY's Emergency and Disaster Management Blog The Little RevolutionJune 11th, 2009 I’m frequently asked how to define “Homeland Security”. While there are several definitions one can apply to this term, I believe that, quite simply, Homeland Security is the doctrinal, organizational, and operational discipline by which the security and prosperity of the people of the United States of America is maintained against all viable threats and hazards, both foreign and domestic. That means Homeland Security is tasked with preserving the quality of our American lives from those individuals and organizations (both internally and externally) who would legitimately bring us harm. At this time, one of the most potentially serious internal threats to the security of our homeland is occurring right here in New York State. According to media reports, it all started rather innocuously on June 8; a few members of the New York State Senate “defected” from the power majority to the power minority, thereby shifting the balance of power within the state senate from one political party to another. In an effort to prevent this shift in the balance of power, the former power majority has undertaken a number of responses, each of which has only resulted in weakening the already-tenuous political credibility of the entire legislative body. These include locking the Senate chamber, turning off the lighting, and essentially repeating what occurred in June of 1789, when France’s Estates-General, finding themselves locked out of their meeting chamber at the Palace of Versailles by order of King Louis XVI, gathered at a nearby indoor tennis court and swore an oath that they would never separated, and that they would not be dissuaded from providing France with a government that was at all times accountable to its people. For the purposes of the Homeland Security discipline, it was the reaction of the French people to the Oath of the Tennis Court which is of most interest to us. It so happens that what they wanted even more than bread and another circus was a government that was at all times accountable to them. Their reasoning was that by having an accountable government, they were virtually assured as much bread and as many circuses as any civilization could properly handle. So they denounced the King. They stopped going to work. They rioted. They stopped paying their taxes, and took robust steps to prevent the monarchist government from collecting them. They stopped buying French government debt. They captured the Bastille. They abolished feudalism and the privileges of the aristocracy. They executed the King, the Queen, and even a Joker or two. They eventually slid into a period of civil war and political terror - known as the Reign of Terror – in which tens of thousands of people perished. They took what steps they believed – rightly or wrongly – to preserve their right to obtain future rights under a new and hopefully enlightened form of liberal democratic government…a government that was at all times accountable to its people. While two centuries and half a world separate us from revolutionary France, the true lessons of history are always with us. They are as omnipotent as air, and yet far more substantial. They tell us that regardless of which political party is “in power” in the New York State Senate, the fact remains that at this time that legislative body is not discharging its Constitutional responsibilities to the people of New York State. Indeed, photographs and accounts published by New York media outlets show a darkened, empty, shuttered and locked chamber whose shadowy decorative splendor does little to convey the greatness of the work of the people that should be undertaken there. At a time when important issues related to the state’s budget, civil rights and operational efficiency are in need of direct and immediate attention, the people of New York State have no apparent choice but to confront the disillusioning spectacle of a state legislature that for whatever reasons, cannot apparently handle its Constitutionally-mandated duties and responsibilities. For some observers, this may not amount to much of a reason for concern. They are of the belief that New York State’s legislature has always been “dysfunctional”, and will attempt to mask their own carelessness or deny their embarrassment by simply laughing it off. King Louis XVI tried a similar strategy at several points during the collapse of his government, but was ultimately unable to bring himself to make the necessary reforms in time enough to prevent the onset of revolution - and his own eventual downfall. Part of his problem rested with his character; another was that he did not have a Disaster Central to respectfully warn him that the internal security of the French homeland was now in serious jeopardy because whatever political legitimacy, whatever faith or confidence his people had in his leadership, was rapidly disappearing. And, what’s more, it was disappearing into a fog of seemingly insurmountable economic and social challenges, including a spiraling public debt coupled with a diminishment of what little social services there were. Like present day New York State, France was facing a posse of problems, ranging from inefficient taxation to enormous disparities in economic and social capital. These placed an untenable strain on the credibility of Louis’ government – and hence, the security and stability of the French homeland. For the King and his ministers, for the nobles and their privileges, for the clergy and their privileges, and for the people and their sufferings, ancient regime France had become a veritable incident pit, a homeland security disaster that was many years and many political excuses in the making. The net effect was, of course, that for a time France was left without a stable, functioning government. And with this political vacuum came a violent, terror-ridden state – the type of homeland that no homeland security practitioner of the modern age would want or tolerate. Likewise, owing to the recent activities in Albany, New York State has been left without a stable, functioning central government. As the Constitution of the State of New York specifies that the state legislature be composed of an Assembly and Senate, one cannot function without the other – and that means, pure and simple, that the people of New York do not at this time have a stable, functioning government. They are being denied the rights that are guaranteed to them, 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, under the United States Constitution. This should be of concern to all those who are truly responsible for the security and prosperity of the United States, and who want to prevent the further erosion of national confidence in our governmental systems. As it now stands, there are three basic (but not necessarily exclusive) outcomes to this scenario. The first, and most appetizing, is that the New York State legislature immediately returns to work for the people of New York. The second is that the federal government, prompted by its Constitutional obligations, will intervene to guarantee that the business of New York State – the people’s business – is conducted. And the third (in the absence of the former two) is that we slide into a Little Revolution, a widening upheaval of American society that history tells us is a virtual inevitability in a liberal democracy without stable, impartial, honest, and diligent government at the local, state and federal levels…without mature government that is truly accountable to its people. In his 1837 history of the French Revolution, Thomas Carlyle wrote of the old regime: “It is amazing how long a rotted apple will hold together if it is not handled too roughly.” All the members of the New York State Senate, regardless of party affiliation, would do very well to remember that at this time in our history. Email this · Subscribe to this Feed · Bookmark This! Posted by David Longshore in Homeland Security, Government. 3 Comments » David Longshore is the former Director of MCNY’s Emergency and Disaster Management MPA Program.
| |
© 2008, Metropolitan College of New York
 |
(800) 33 THINK | 212 343 1234