October 2005 Issue [Essay] The Uses of Disaster Download PDF Adjust Share Notes on bad weather and good government by Rebecca Solnit, This article is only available as a PDF to subscribers. Download PDF Tags Carnival Community life Interpersonal relations Natural disasters Revolutions More from Rebecca Solnit Unmusical Chairs It’s often forgotten that the idea of the political spectrum—of politics having a left and right—has a physical origin. It comes from the seating arrangements at the National Assembly of… Driven to Distraction “Only connect” are the words that E. M. Forster is most famous for. What they actually meant to him, however, often fades behind a vague notion that his was a boosterish, pro-connection… Nobody Knows When I was eighteen, I spent several months working as a bus girl at a diner. It was a cheerful-looking place, facing San Francisco Bay. The kitchen was L-shaped: the… Adjust Share