CAN WE TAKE CARE OF US?
I wonder at times, if we are as self-sufficient as we think ourselves to be.
The current strike clogging west coast ports will bring results in limited quantities and high prices of scores of products made in Asia. That covers a multitude of articles, too because our import status has changed radically in recent years. The elimination of shipments from China alone would be felt in every element of American society.
Even a short, local strike or works stoppage of any kind in our area can cause a shortages of many items in are stores. I have heard it said that we would be out of most food supplies within thirty days. I would imagine such a figure would vary a great deal in different sections of the country, with some suffering severe shortages in less than a month; others more.
We are far more dependent on our trucking industry and our highway network than we admit. With any delay or stoppage in the flow of food and medical supplies citizens become handicapped in performing their work. We are in need of a system – to be set up now, before an actual emergency need – which will alleviate some of the pressure. I think many of us would be taken aback if told how far away our points of supply are today. We fail to realize how trucks bring such supplies extremely long distances.
Isn't it about time we developed a network of distribution points which are closer to the centers of use for those essential handled by those points? Savings obtained by shipping directly from the point of manufacture
fade away quickly with any interruption in the sequence of supply. Replenishment stocks need to be closer to the point of retail sales to assure a steady supply being available in critical areas.
If we cannot fed ourselves are we as self-sufficient as we claim to be? And, what about our transportation needs? Gasoline and oil supplies, while see seem to have many stations nearby as well as sub-stations with additional supplies, it would be interesting if someone would figure out just how long out local supplies would last if the source was supply was cut off entirely for two or three weeks. And, what about our fuel oil supplies for home and workplaces, if such a need developed in mid-winter?
Especially in view of more terrorist attacks with more complex time problems, is it not time for us to consider new national programs of supply? Studies of essential food requirement should be made to determine which foods should be stockpiled and where to best serve major metropolitan areas, potentially targeted coastal cities, areas in which defense plants are located as well as military installations.
I would hope this is going to be one of a job to be undertaken by the new Department of Home Defense. Certainly it can be considered to be as important as inspected little old ladies for bombs at our airports. That new office has suffered a badly warped PR relationship in that the general public think that's all they are supposed to do.
Think about it, especially, if you are itching to “get on with it!”.
Can we take care of us?
A. L. M. October 7, 2002 [c556wds]
