Coronavirus Update from the Big Easy

Working under the motto of “share supply and create safety,” Project 21 member Nadra Enzi is a “safety creator” and community activist in New Orleans. He has some advice on weathering the coronavirus storm that harkens back to the days of the “greatest generation.”

Living in one of the American hot zones for the virus, Nadra advises people to be more independent, and not make themselves reliant on the government for their salvation:

This pandemic is a classic civil defense scenario.

Most of the prevention and mitigation can be done by a mobilized public instead of people waiting for rationed services from those operating in a top-down emergency management model. This isn’t a criticism of the emergency management approach, but simply distinguishes the two disciplines.

We, the mobilized public, will decide by our actions just how deeply COVID-19 impacts our nation’s health, safety and economy.

While he does advise his “fellow grassroots civil defenders” to continue to follow stay-at-home advisories and practice social distancing, he nonetheless recommends that the government should not be the sole source of survival in trying times.

As for what he has seen on the streets and heard from people in his neighborhood of Marginy, near the French Quarter, he said the area he has nicknamed “Gotham” is “for the most part quietly watching and waiting to see if things worsen and when workers can return to work.”

And today is also Nadra’s 54th birthday. Happy birthday, Nadra – stay safe!



The National Center for Public Policy Research is a communications and research foundation supportive of a strong national defense and dedicated to providing free market solutions to today’s public policy problems. We believe that the principles of a free market, individual liberty and personal responsibility provide the greatest hope for meeting the challenges facing America in the 21st century.