The Mayor of New Orleans has ordered the immediate, mandatory evacuation of the City of New Orleans. Given the size, speed, and projected path of Hurricane Katrina, evacuation is an entirely reasonable, rational thing to do. The question, though, is this — should the state have the right to order someone to leave their home in the face of an impending disaster.
Radical libertarians would say that the answer to this question is no, and that people should be free to do whatever they want, even if that means engaging in a course of conduct that will likely result in their death. While I am generally sympathetic to this position, I also believe that there is a proper role for the state to play in the face of natural disasters such as Katrina, man-made disasters such as 9/11 and public health emergencies such as the 1918 influenza epidemic.
Ayn Rand once said that “[n]o exact, objective morality can be prescribed for an issue where a man’s life is endangered. While the point she made does not correspond precisely with the question I asked, I think the response to the question is similar. In a true disaster scenario, such as the one New Orleans is faced with, there is no institution outside of government that can maintain the basic threads of social order that are needed to keep civilization functioning.
Update @ 2:53pm: In the commments, fellow LLPer Eric Cowperthwaite asks if I am advocating mandatory evacuations or not. Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that question. If someone doesn’t want to leave, then I doubt the N.O. authorities are really going to invest much time forcing them out; they’ve got bigger fish to fry at the moment. On one hand, if someone is dumb enough not to evacuate in a situation like this, then I’m content to let Darwinian forces take their action.
But how about this hypothetical: Imagine a major pandemic sweeping the United States. It could be a bioterror attack of a modified smallpox virus or the Avian flu. Assume also that there is no effective vaccine for the virus. Does the state have the right to quarantine the infected people in order to protect the general public. In that case, I think the answer is emphatically yes.
Update # 2 8/29/05: Welcome Michelle Malkin readers. Stay awhile, check out the archives, and remember to come back !
Update # 3 8/30/05: There are now reports that martial law, of some kind, has been delared in New Orleans. Further discussion here.
