Catastrophes and Disasters: Breakdowns of Our World- Moving to Missouri, or Thereabouts…

Now is March 2014 and my family is in a big trouble”¦

I want to tell you my story and to show you my thoughts and feelings, my plans for the nearest future and prognoses for my family’s life.

It was a wonderful spring day and my family and I have a good picnic outdoors”¦and then the awful things begun. I fall down on the ground and can’t understand what had happened with me. An extreme earthquake made me fall down and it was only the beginning of great catastrophe.

The first my thought was about my daughter, she is only 3 years old and she was frightened by this situation and cried so loud.  I took her on my hands and didn’t know what to do.

Can you imagine that situation? You are a grown up person with a child on your arms and you have no ideas what to do. All were falling down and my nightmare became true.

Frankly speaking, I saw such situations only in films. I agree that it was horrible, but it was only a movie. When such situations were described in films or in TV programs I was miserable these people and want to help them. But, it was only my feelings for the time of program going and I do nothing. You can turn off your TV set and all will be alright with you and with your family. I want to turn off this situation too, but it was not a film scenario; it was real life, my life, my daughter’s life, my problems.

Who can help me now?

Who will solve my problems?

What to do with that situation?

What to do with our life?

At first I want to run away from all of that, but I don’t know where I can find place to hidden.

“”¦East Coast to begin sinking just as the water levels on the coast has begun to rise severely. Thus, the “East Coast” as we have known it will disappear within one week”¦” ”“ it were the word from the radio program. I don’t remember the beginning of that message and don’t remember the end of it, but I understood in that moment that it was the end of my normal life, the end of all. In fact, that words changed my life and I should do something”¦ but what to do? What?

Now describing that feelings and thoughts it looks like I stayed there for a long time and thinking about that situation”¦ No, all of these I wrote before, was like a lightning. Less than one minute passed and all my normal future, I lined “normal”, life was broken.

Government and specialists are predicting that the new East Coast will now run, roughly, from western New York State downward to Mississippi or Alabama. States like Florida and North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New York – as well as all of New England – will disappear.

As you understand, I was in shock, but I know that, thanking to the God, we alive and healthy yet. We have a chance to run a way into the middle of the country and to begin our new life there. I say “new life” and it is a right word, because all things from the last life disappear at all. Any property I or my family had owned on the East Coast is now under water and lost. I had lost all, my job, my house, which I have built myself and a big part of my earning.

All people must run away if they want to stay alive and do it as soon as they could to do it. Families have been restricted to one car, they have some money and no perspectives for the future.

My family was in such situation too. So at that moment we have one-third of our financial savings, one car, no job, and enough personal belongings to fill the back of our vehicle.

It was a time of a decision. I know that this decision will direct all our plans for the future and help us to survive.

Do you want to listen to my plan?

I will tell it in more details in my further story, but short steps I will write you right now.

First step: to choose the right way of our journey.

Second step: to find out there place where we can live for the first time.

Third step: to find the work.

Fourth step: do all my best for my family’s normal life.

This is not of course, the whole plan; it’s looked like a scheme of our next steps.

I’m a serious person and now I have a great responsibility for my closest people destinies.

Let’s start from the place of our new home. We talked about the steps of our plan and it is a time to make it real. We think a little about our way and choose the Chicago for our future place of dislocation. There were several reasons of such our choice. The first reason was that we have relatives there and for the first time we can live with them. It will be the big help for our little earnings.

As for me, it is not a right step from our government’s side to frozen immediately all financial assets. We were earning our money for the two situations: to use them in bad financial times or for the trips and our daughter education. Now tragedy disturbed not only one taking family, it disturbs whole country. Every person tried to earn money for the future and now we have money only on paper. Our family has 50 thousands, but we can take them and begin a new life from our earnings. All families are in a big trouble without any plans for the future and without money. Do you believe that if you have a plan you need money? I think your answer will be only “yes”.

It is understandable, that government try to do the best, but now tragedy have happened and we have no enough money to help ourselves.

Returning to the reasons, the second reason of Chicago chosen was its economical situation. I’m a builder and in this city I can find new work without any problems.

I have read five years ago that building business will be the most popular and important for the future of our country. Experts prognoses became true and I believe that my own prognosis about work will become true too. A lot of investors put their money to the building projects, especially in Chicago, last years and there are a lot of variants for my future employment. I have several partners there and maybe they can also help me in my trouble.

I was an owner of a little building company and have so great plans for my future. Before this catastrophe we worked under the new big project and worked with new building technologies. And what we have now, – nothing. Our project is covered with water and nothing to do with that. The only thing I have now, it is my head, my hands, my knowledge, experience and a big wish to survive. So, I will have a chance to find a good work in short terms.

A lot of people lost their homes and government should to do something with this. Now our country has a big financial problem, because nobody waiting for this catastrophe and it is a big blow to our budget and a big pain for every citizen of our country.

Let’s analyze this case and it will help me to count my variants of soon employment.

Talking about our family, we are in a better situation that, for example, my friend’s family is. We have relatives in Chicago and they will help us for the first time. I stopped my thoughts for a minute and think about that people, who have no relatives and friends in another country or city. They are in a bigger trouble than we are. I think that it should be special committee created to help all these people. Also should be  created special groups of psychologists to help people find them after this catastrophe and don’t loose the faith into better future; I want to say not “better”, but maybe in future at all.

For instance, I don’t know how to help myself, nothing to say about other people situation.

All these thoughts remind me about God. Remarkably, that we begin to think about religious only in bad situation. I can lie and say that every day I’m thanking for my food, for my success (before this trouble I was rather successful and we have all for our comfortable life). I don’t thanking him for our prosperous”¦ words”¦words”¦words”¦ I don’t do nothing from that what I should to do.

Only now I understood that all our life are in Gods hands and it is a miracle that we are still alive and had an opportunity to moved another city and begin the new life there.

At any rate, the main aim of my life is my lovely daughter and I should to do all possible and impossible for her.

Frankly speaking, I had a one bad thought about my life. It is even shame on to say that I have a wish to left all these problems and become free of them. One time I began imagine another end of this tragedy. It was our death, what is a horrible word “death””¦ that moment I think that it will be the best variant, no problems, no pain, nothing around me. But why nothing? It’s not a true, I saw my mother and my relatives there and they were free of problems and struggle, they rest on the heavens and I saw their smiled faces. My mother died from cancer several years ago and I missed her so much”¦

All these thoughts were in my head for an hour and now I’m shamed for them. How can I imagine such end of our life? On the other hand, I’m only a little particle of this big world and maybe nobody will be missed me.

Stop!!! What am I writing? I have a wonderful little daughter and I’m not alone. I should build my future for her and I promise that I do my best for her happiness. When she smiled to me I understand that I can overwind the whole world only for her smile.

In my past life, I separate my life for two parts or it will better to say, that I separate my life in two periods: before the catastrophe and after catastrophe (the time before the catastrophe I called my past life); I believe in God, but it was not the faith from the sincere heart, it was the faith more for people, who were around me. I’m shamed for my past life, because I was so practical and don’t think about my soul comfort.

Every day I get up early in the morning and go to the work, then I worked there whole day in a big stress and in the evening I have a standard supper. It was not so bad of course, but not very good too. I was like a robot. My way was consists of such points: home ”“ work ”“ home or sometimes home ”“ work ”“ friends ”“ home. On holidays we visited our relatives and one Sunday a month go to the church. As for me our church visits were a tradition of my mother’s family and I made it our tradition too. I was wrong in my conclusions that I need no religion in my life.

I remember that I was so angry to the God that my mother dead and he did nothing to save her. It was so silly to be angry to the God,   I was a grown up, but like a little boy didn’t know what to do with my big grief. My friends tried to help me, but I didn’t want to hear them. I closed from my environment and want to be alone in my grief. It was an awful times and now it is time not to close my heart and think that all around me is bad, but believe in a good and do all for the corrections of this situation.

Returning to my plan, we have our family meeting and promise to help each other in every situation. We had several questions to discuss and the first of them was: what we have to do?

The answer was only one, and it’s mean that tomorrow morning we are going to Chicago. As you remember we choose Chicago for our new home. We call our relatives and they will be waiting for us and will help us to start our new life.

The political and no doubts economical situation is very bad now in a country, because politics begin to look for the person who is guilty in this catastrophe. I heard that this earthquake was prognosed by the scientists, but nobody believe in this and do nothing to prevent and evacuate the people from this danger zone. Some people said that this catastrophe was a result of new weapon testing and our government know about this and were warned that it can have such awful results, like a big catastrophe. Someone says that it is the beginning of the world end and so on. There are a lot of versions people has, but it changes nothing. The big catastrophe had happened and our country was destroyed much by it. It is not an approaching time to think about the reason of catastrophe, but it is a time to consolidate the efforts  for the eliminating the established position.

I don’t want to know who is guilty in this situation, but I want to be certain that it will never happen again in my future. All our life was destroyed and we should begin from the beginning to build our life. That is good that we know how to do it, but sometimes only bad thoughts and big awe and pain covered our hearts.

Before all changes begin we should work out the strategy of the main our efforts direction. First of all it is a real faith that all will be alright.

Only now I understand that we are alive thanking to the God. I begin to believe in God and my family does it after me too. I asked Heavens to give a power for us to tolerate deprivations and torments.

I remember a paragraph from the article that I have read several years ago: “Levels of human and political development, as well as patterns of age, gender, education, and income are often systematically associated with participation in religious services, as well as with membership in community associations and levels of civic engagement. The analysis therefore uses multivariate regression models analyzing the impact of religious participation with prior controls for levels of human and political development, as well as for the standard factors commonly linked to civic participation at individual level, such as education, income, gender and age. Denominational differences may also matter; Robert Wuthnow has noted that in the United States, membership in mainline Protestant congregations generates the kinds of social networks, norms and relationships that help individuals and communities attain important goals, encouraging volunteering, civic engagement and political participation–but that membership in evangelical churches does not have these effects”. Analyzing it several years ago it was something incomprehensible for me, because I don’t believe in God so sincere as now. It was something like an article in unknown language with more details and without any sense. Now I understand that the main idea of that article was a true faith that participation in religious organizations will help to become more kind and to survive in hard times.

In my opinion, it will be good to create a new society of people who damaged after catastrophe and addressed to our government with a plan of country reconstructions.

It is a really wonderful idea to create such society, because only if we join our efforts we can begin our new life and do it better that it was.

Frankly speaking, at first I think and wrote about only our family plan of survive, but right now I understand that we can’t lived alone another people and should help them. First of all I begin to call my friends and asked what happened with them.

Before this lighting up I thinking only about myself and only about my family prosperous. It was wrong position, and maybe Heaven have punished us for such egoistic thoughts and irresponsible attitude to the nature. We didn’t think about our future and tried to take all from the nature right now. We want to have money and comfortable life, but don’t think what all of this will be cost for us.

It is necessary to run away from here and to begin work not only for the sake of money, but for the mankind wellness.

I change my mind so greatly for the last day that I can even say thank God for this catastrophe. It show me the other way of living and other aim of my life. Several days ago I was a rather bad father, because I think only about external things, but now I have a chance to think about the soul.

More than all I want my daughter to be the happy and become a good person, that’s why we should give her more attention and time. I want to give my daughter the best education and want her to find her own way in life.

I don’t now whom I want her to become, because a lot of things will change from this moment to her 18 years, but I want to be certain that it will be only good changes.

Analyzing market of the labour I see that last years were popular such professions as manager, sociologists, lawyers, psychologists”¦ But than the country became full of these specialists and the new wave of professions were important. Among them were workers, engineers, builders”¦As you understand I have builder specialization, that’s why I had fallen into necessary riverbed and open my own building company. It was a right step, but there were several details connected with that.

Do you remember the great financial crisis in 2009?

I think that we will never forget it and as you see our country had a lot of problems that time. Now we have problems too and our country needs good specialists in all spheres of life.

I analyzed the situation during my work and know that I’m will be claimed like a good specialist in my sphere. I can suggest a new building technology to my future employer and it will help to perfect quality and expenses. I planning to work for year in Chicago as a builder and than I believe that our country will return our earnings and I can open my building company again.

I’m sorry that people who worked with me, I’m sorry that they lost their works in such a silly way and I have a hope to ask them, if they have no good work for that time, to work with me again in my new company.

It is great that plans for the future begin to appear in my mind and a faith that all will be only good knocked to my heart.

My family adopted my plan and we called our friends. Of course they have the same problems, but we tried to give them a part of our faith that we can do all if we will organize our life and forget for our egoistic thoughts.

Catastrophe changes beliefs and plans about raising our daughter. We understood that she needs not only the best toys and the best kindergarden, but she also need a mother and father who loved her most of all and will taught her to be a good person.

We shouldn’t think only about catastrophe, but should find the way how to improve the following situation.

Moreover, our future will principally be focused on joining new kinds of human groups formed in response to the catastrophe. All of us are response for this situation and we have to work a lot for the perspective changes. We want to be an active part of such group and we suggested to our friends to do the same.

This plan for the creating of a new groups had a chance for life and we can achieve our goal, while taking better care of our environmental and social assets, will require a global development process that does better than the one followed in the past.

I want to insert quoting from the “Sustainable Development  in a Dynamic World”. I have read this book ten years ago, but the way of solving problem is good for our situation too.

“Even though the world’s population increased by several billion people in the last 40 years, there have been significant gains in human  welfare in  developing countries as measured by average human development indicators. But the development path has left a legacy of accumulated environmental and  social problems that can not be repeated. There are many drivers of today’s socioeconomic and cultural trans- formations. Some are ongoing and continuous (such as technological innovation and  income growth).

As for my opinion, problems that require lasting solutions often are not susceptible to quick fixes. Everyone could be better off if cooperative solutions were agreed on and implemented. But often the rules and organizations to coordinate human behavior do not yet exist, are undeveloped, faulty, or weak ”” especially for problems with high transaction costs and longer time horizons. To be able to coordinate well requires institutions that:

ü Pick up  signals about  needs and  problems, especially from the zone of catastrophe.

ü Balance  competing  interests.

ü Ensure credible commitments and accountability in executing agreed decisions.”

I think that there are a lot of different organizations now, but the new organization need to be improved at many levels””from the local to the global””to promote growth in ways that protect environmental and social assets. The institutions to manage and protect environmental and social assets are not emerging rapidly enough to address the consequences of the growing scale and interconnectedness of human activity. Action is required now, even for problems that will unfold over a longer period. Societies need to ensure an enabling environment for creativity, initiative, and learning. These initiatives can come from the public sector, the private sector, or civil society. Partnerships among these various actors are needed within and across countries. Many innovative institutions are emerging which need to be strengthened. The key is to find ways  to scale up these initiatives.

As you understand our family has a good plan for the future life and we will correct our mistakes not only for ourselves, but for the humanity wellness.

At the end of my story I want to say that our plan is not an ideal, but the time will show its weak sides and we will have an opportunity to improve it. All process are connected and only after our right deals we will have right results.