Great disasters focus the attention, especially when, to borrow from Samuel Johnson, they involve many deaths. First the news media and later blue-ribbon panels gather extensive information after disasters, but the attention goes deeper, into emotional and moral processes. In asking what went wrong, we frequently question ourselves about the kinds of lives we lead, the policies that governments pursue in our name. The usual though vague term is “soul-searching,” which continues long after the floodwaters recede or the smoke stops. Hurricane Katrina, like the 9/11 attacks four years before it, is a prime occasion for soul-searching.