There was an interesting article in the Washington Post recently that posited an even larger fantasy than seeing the creation of an Action Central facility to help cope with Seattle’s growing homeless/lawless crisis: The idea of having NASA tackle the climate crisis.
It said, “Fifty years ago the impossible problem was putting a human on the moon to win the space race, and all of humanity has benefitted… The impossible problem today is our home planet, and NASA can once again be of service for the betterment of all.”
I was struck by the similarity of the Seattle situation and that in which we find ourselves with global climate change, as highlighted by this passage.
“The fragmented system of roles and responsibilities related to handling the massive amounts of earth-science data is severely hampering global efforts required to make significant progress,” the article continued. “The U.S. government role in addressing this challenge is foundering without leadership. Standardizing data collection and coordinating its storage, analysis and distribution require experience working across disciplines, government agencies and universities, as well as the private sector and international community.”
Albeit on a much smaller scale, the Seattle situation is suffering from the same kind of fragmentation and need for standardization and coordination. This is why we continue to use Mission Control as the image to depict Action Central. Although the challenges or climate control and space exploration are of a much larger scale, the single center of coordination and action makes just as much sense for Seattle’s efforts to quell the homeless/lawless crisis.
Meanwhile, until someone in authority from the public and/or private sector gets the ball rolling on Action Central, the fantasy continues…
P.S. Here are links to prior posts in the fantastical Action Central series: Mayor Durkan’s Address; Homeless Central, a First Step; background on Action (nee Homeless) Central director John Shannon; his distinction between Homelessness and Lawlessness, The Stakeholders; The Perfect Site! The ‘Jigsaw Puzzle’, Reaching For Reality, Town Hall Takeaways, Eric’s National Exposure, ‘Head Chef’. ‘Our Mission Control’, The No. 1 Deliverable—Synergy!, Proactive Vs. Passive, Action Central: Guest Proposal-Part I, Action Central: Guest Proposal-Part II and Action Central: Guest Proposal-Part III.
Below is Poll No. 2, with the same question as in Poll No. 1, but at a later stage of the discussion. Those who think Action Central is an Excellent/Much Needed Idea is running steadily in the 75%+ range. If you haven’t voted in Poll No. 2, please do so below.
[polldaddy poll=10341497]
—Larry Coffman