Are you ready?

As comedienne Joan Rivers used to say, "Can we talk?" Now that we're coming up to the anniversary of the Katrina disaster, may we (I'm avoiding the grammar sheriff) say something about individual responsibility?

The thing is this: Some folks who suffered at the Superdome or Convention Center were there not because their homes were flooded but because they were foodless. Had some of these individuals kept a week or two of food, water, and other supplies at home, they might have spared themselves much misery.

The politically correct police are on my trail: I'm "blaming the victim." Well, some folks victimize themselves-and not just in New Orleans, and not just poor people. When Hurricane Rita in September seemed about to hit Houston, many who evacuated by car and found themselves in multi-hour traffic jams had not brought with them grab-and-go backpacks with food, water, medicines, personal care products, and cash.

So how should we prepare? Heads of households should keep in mind that:

This list is obviously not comprehensive, but it suggests the need for some planning. Planning is also important in the selection of family rendezvous sites, escape routes, and out-of-state contact persons for times when communications go down and confusion goes up.

Planning also reminds us of the limitations of the "soft despotism" warned of by Alexis de Tocqueville, in his wonderful 1830s book, Democracy in America. He feared that Americans might slowly submit to "an immense, protective power which . . . tries to keep them in perpetual childhood. . . . It provides for their security, foresees and supplies their necessities, facilitates their pleasures, manages their principal concerns, directs their industry." Well, maybe we have submitted, but New Orleans residents learned last year that soft despots are not reliable.