Our collective power in the face of crisis

Of course one doesn’t need to “decide” that what is happening in Haiti is a crisis that demands our immediate attention. To state this is ridiculous.

But I wonder what Americans would be capable of if we all “decided” that poverty, violence, and inequality in the U.S. constitute crises. What could we do, collectively, if we all “decided” that the fact that ½ of U.S. children will use food stamps at some point (1 in 3 white children, and 90% of black children) is a crisis? What could we do, collectively, if we decided that 40 million Americans without health insurance is a crisis? What could we do if we decided that under-resourced public education is a crisis, mostly impacting our lowest-income students? What could we do--by sheer force of will---by recognizing and deciding that such issues require a swift outpouring of attention and resources?