Klein is an Anarchist and doesn’t even know it.
She tells her story with some fondness, I suspect, because she enjoys the old thymie wholesomeness of “negotiating with your hands” and that it allows her to make a few jabs at government. I definitely can’t fault her for that, it’s a great story with a relevant message. I am, however, astonished that she doesn’t realize the significance of the (more or less) orderly, voluntary and entirely self-initiated rebuilding activity undertaken by Asian peoples coping with societally uprooting disasters like floods and hurricanes.
They knew that there would be no government body that would or could help them, Ms. Klein, so they just sorted things out themselves.