Solnit finds hope in disasters Elon Liberal Arts Forum guest discusses ʻA Paradise Built in Hellʼ By Kristin Martin Hurricane Katrina. 9/11. The earthquake in Haiti. Can something good really come out of these disasters? Rebecca Solnit says, “Yes.” “There were moments where people found they were powerful, that they were important, they had history in their hands,” the award-winning author told an audience at Elon University Monday night. In her book “A Paradise Built in Hell,” Solnit discusses how disaster can bring about an empowered community. “I cannot value disaster, but I can value the response,” Solnit said. Solnit relates her ideas to the recent revolution in Egypt. “They had no particular privilege or power, but they stood up for what they believe,” she noted, adding that disasters encourage communities to come together and take charge. “People gathered in public to discover themselves as the public. Disaster is often a moment of liberation.” Solnit said victims of disasters come away from their experiences with new perspectives. “We spend our life worrying about things that don’t matter in times like this,” she said. For example, Solnit confronts the media about the attention they gave to people who were scavenging for survival in New Orleans after Katrina. “They get obsessed with private property,” she says. “Who cares about TVs being stolen when people are dying?” The victims of Hurricane Katrina saw the value in doing what was necessary to survive, even if it did involve looting. “They are often acting better than they do in everyday life,” said Solnit. “People had stepped up to meet the needs of the moment. People know what to do in a disaster. You will know what to do in a disaster.” She said that meaning must be sought out in people’s lives, and that disaster often restores that meaning. “For me, joy is about social desires and satisfaction we rarely acknowledge,” she said. “Rising from the rubble” and overcoming a disaster is a struggle that can forever change a community or an individual for the better. “This is a paradise through hell,” said Solnit. “Making paradise is the work we were meant to do.”