The Conservative Method of Resilience Planning

Aaron Renn acknowledges that recent efforts to plan and build for resilience around the country, spurred by the effects of climate change, might, at first blush, be off-putting to Conservatives:

"Among those who study cities, 'resilience' has become a hot topic, in part because of a major push from the left-leaning Rockefeller Foundation. This association with the Left, and with climate-change rhetoric, may prompt eye-rolls from some conservatives. But conservatism has its own emerging concept of resilience."

Renn details some of the source material for the Rockefeller Foundation's efforts, namely The Resilience Dividend, authored by Rockefeller President Judith Rodin, finding examples where individuals rather than government proved powerful instruments in responses to natural disasters. As Renn also states, "disasters do strike cities, and disaster preparedness is a core function of government."

Concluding a number of examples to back his argument, Renn makes the following conclusion:

"A healthy society requires resilient individuals and resilient systems. But true resilience is only developed by making contact with stressful disruption. Better to make a habit of doing that regularly—on our own terms—before events force us into a confrontations for which we and our communities are not ready."