TRAPPED MINERS, LIBERTARIANISM, AND a response to Sandy Levinson.

Well, if you’re looking for counterexamples, I think the post 9/11 “American Dunkirk,” where roughly a million people were evacuated from lower Manhattan by private action seems pretty good:

People at Ground Zero, the Manhattan Waterfront, nearby New Jersey, Staten Island and Brooklyn waterfronts, and crews on the numerous vessels repeatedly used the phrases “just amazing,” “everyone cooperated, and “just doing what it took” to describe maritime community responses. Individuals stepped up and took charge of specific functions, and captains and crews from other companies took their direction. . . . Private maritime operators kept their vessels onsite and available until Friday, Day Four, when federal authorities took over.

Day Four, when federal authorities took over. ‘Nuff said.

Related: How American Industry Aided The Chilean Rescue.

UPDATE: Reader John Burgess writes: “Don’t forget US Airway Flt 1549, ditching into the Hudson. The 155 passengers and crew were rescued by commercial vessels, not the fire department, not the Coast Guard, not the NYPD.”