Trauma and Money
by Madison Gallant, Class of 2026

In September 2022, a killer storm, Hurricane Ian, ripped through South West Florida’s coast. Families huddled together atop roofs, scrambling to get away from feces-infested waters. Locals watched as their homes vanished into the flood waters. 

This is trauma.

Trauma is often falsely defined by uneducated people. George Carlin, an iconic comedian, is a perfect example of someone who assumes they know what PTSD is. In a viral standup comedity routine from the 1980s, Carlin defines trauma as a “snap” in the brain after an individual can't take any more input. In reality, PTSD is the breakdown of communication between the reptilian brain and the frontal lobe.  Because of this change to the brain, traumatized people, when triggered, regress back to the events that sparked the trauma.

When someone usually goes through a traumatic event in their life the people surrounding them might use the phrase “Get over it; you're fine.” For example, Harry Potter lost both of his parents right in front of his eyes. When custody of him was transferred to his aunt and uncle, they shared no sympathy towards him. Harry now has a scar that will remind him of his lack of family every day. Just like the victims of Hurricane Ian losing their families. The scars embedded into their hearts will be a forever reminder of the loss of a loved one. For Harry Potter, like James and the Giant Peach and the children of Narnia, a fantasy world was the only refuge. 

In the face of disaster, there will always be those who will take advantage of this trauma. Renowned journalist Naomi Klien, the author of Shock Doctrine, wrote that the economy is based on weapons and disasters. Disaster capitalists buy damaged land at a low price and build their investments on top of it. In September 2005, Naomi Klein interviewed Jammar Perry, a Hurricane Katrina survivor. Jammar explained the complications Katrina has brought upon his life.  Conspiracy theorists have hypothesized that their town was so poor that the government didn't replace their levee because they saw this as an opportunity to return the broke town into an aesthetically better town. Due to the negligence of the government, obviously, Katrina wiped out the whole city. 

Economist Milton Friedman, the darling of the disaster capitalists, inspired the leadership of New Orleans to make their city a  “clean slate” in terms of education. He made public schools into charter and private schools which removed local control from the school system. Now, New Orleans has "for profit" education. Milton Friedman would be proud.  Disaster capitalists are seeking vultures prying on people's trauma and building their new investments on top of them. 

Now, the disaster capitalists have arrived on Fort Myers Beach, only months after Hurricane Ian's destruction. The quirky, hometown beach is gone forever. 

Where is the government in this mess? In 1787, the founding fathers of America clearly stated their intentions for the nation. Their vision sought for their citizens to have a safe and fair nation by guaranteeing domestic tranquility. Recently, government officials have been ignoring the corporations that have been increasing predatory disaster capitalism. Former governor John Kasich took note of the government's behavior and publicly announced on CNN his opinion of communities waiting for a “knight on a white horse” to save them from the disaster capitalists. Communities need to unite and overthrow the forces throwing them down and stop Bruce Wayne-type of heroes from protecting them -- especially when those heroes only enhance the problem to protect their status quo.

After examining this evidence, there is very little debate that the US government and the corporatists are taking advantage of the natural storms that destroy communities. Many have the right to believe the government is a devious vulture ready to prey on innocent victims, only if that means the living fossils get more green papers into their wallets. Survivors of these deadly storms might be able to recover but they will never stop feeling the sharp pain in their hearts from their everlasting scars.