Here I sit in Houston, having weathered another hurricane. I live in The Woodlands, a northern suburb. We’re on our 5th day without power. There are a few libertarian silver linings to hurricane strikes:

1. real heroes (e.g., electrical linemen) are clearly elevated over false ones (e.g., police). I have seen people literally cheering when a convoy of electrical repairmen passes.

2. anti-market / anti-materialist malarky is thrown out the window — one truly appreciates the standard of living under which we live.

3. it’s a golden opportunity to lean on family for help, help our neighbors, and build community. I borrowed a generator from an uncle. I volunteered my chainsaw expertise for the widow across the street. Everyone is sharing information and any surplus they have, but still respecting others’ property: neighborhood etiquette is that one can offer another neighbor ice or gas, but not ask for it.

4. it’s a great lesson for kids in all of these things, and a great chance for the kids to really help out around the house. “Son, I’ll cut the limbs with this chainsaw — you stack them over there.” Rarely are children so useful and essential to household maintenance when there is so much manual labor to do. Yesterday we washed clothes and hung them on a makeshift line. They get a great boost from being helpful to the household.

5. it becomes clear that physical security starts at home. We’ve seen people cruising through our neighborhood that don’t belong there, eyeing the generators at the few houses that have them. One result? My wife told me that everyone in the family is getting a gun and lessons by the end of the year.

More can be said, but I have a generator to repair before night falls, the “real job” to attend to, and gallons to get before I sleep, and gallons to get before I sleep.