Natural catastrophes, like wars, bring out the best and worst in Men. I have been pleased that in Houston thus far there seems to be more of the former than the latter. Native Houstonian Beldar at Beldar Blog gives us his pespective:
Americans and people the world over are watching heart-grabbing, jaw-dropping, eye-watering videos and stories from Harvey via a combination of the national TV news networks and the major news websites, plus their own social media platforms, with their customized profiles based on their particular histories, preferences, settings, etc., influenced directly and indirectly by their respective locations and sets of friends.
Houstonians like me who’ve not been much directly affected by Harvey are watching those same national media, of course. Many of us are supplementing the national networks, or deserting them, for local TV news stations, whose coverage and performance is in every respect superior to their national counterparts. Local reporting is more in depth, of course, and more knowledgeable, of course, and better connected to history, of course. But it’s also showing significantly better perspective and judgment, with less hysteria, less ratings-pandering, less sensationalism, and vastly more critically useful factual information.
Moreover, and less obviously: My Facebook feed, customized to my set of friends and contacts, is giving me a constant, steady set of more granular news in parallel to what I’m seeing on TV (local or national) or other general internet sources.
So to my friends in, say, California: I’m seeing the heroic stories you’re seeing. But I’m also seeing dozens of individual people I know — neighbors, relatives, law colleagues and judges, old friends from college, people I’ve “met” only online — engaged in quiet, effective, and almost completely unreported heroism. There’s no reason why FB would be or could be curating this sort of thing effectively for the vast set of people who aren’t living in Houston or on the Gulf Coast or otherwise involved in the rescue & recovery efforts.
But these smaller, less flashy rescues, these bunking arrangements, these boat loans and sandwich deliveries and “I heard from your cousin, she’s alive!” messages that I’m seeing pass among my fellow Houstonians through the particular lens of my set of FB friends — these things, individually and especially cumulatively, are awe-inspiring. These decent acts, these attempts to be useful and helpful, are more striking to me precisely because unlike the heroes I’m seeing on TV, these particular acts of heroism are being performed by people I already know. And I think it’s a very reasonable inference that millions of other Houstonians in my approximate position are likewise seeing a different set of people who they know, who are being similarly heroic during Harvey — but of whom you and I are utterly unaware, and always will be. Continue Reading
