Katrina Aftermath Anger
After a week of listening to the coverage of Katrina (and the aftermath) there are some things that I just need to get off my chest:
As bad as it is, stop calling it 'our tsunami'. There is a big difference between something that happen with little or no warning and something that happened with several days warning that some people either didn't react to or couldn't react to. Why does there have to be competition over whose natural disaster was worse? They are all horrible and provide an opportunity to see the best (and worst) in people.
In New Orleans, the situation rapidly turned into a Y2K-esque worst case scenario: no power, no water, no communications, armed mobs looting and pillaging with the government unable to respond. Except in this real life scenario, this was not the result of some errant computer software. This was a fatal combination of natural disaster and the worst side of humankind.
Before Katrina hit, it seems that there were those who couldn't move because they didn't have cars or some other means of getting around or out of the city because they are poor. This might have something to do with the fact that the poverty rate in the US has grown to 12.5% under the current administration. Apparently the poor are good enough to fight wars, but not worth rescuing or looking out for properly -- sickening.
Another point that I am struggling with regarding the slow federal response is 'because it is a very complicated situation that no one could have foreseen'. Then how do we account for the Hurricane Pam simulations that showed almost exactly what was going to happen? You might ask yourself how can the international press get camera crews, helicopters, ground transport, etc to freely go in to areas to broadcast (some might say, exploit) those impacted by this disaster, but the government doesn't seem to be as resourceful. Nor does it seem that the press has enough integrity to try to bring in whatever aid they can while covering the events.
The National Guard, who typically play a crucial role in providing swift and effective assistance during natural disasters are hobbled by the fact that 40% of Mississippi's and 35% of Louisiana's National Guard are in Iraq.
This event seems to me to be an example of the current administrations domestic policy writ large: if you have money, you're ok, you can evacuate (you can basically do whatever you want); if you don't, then they really don't give a damn about what happens to you. So you have a situation were the administration cut funding for levee enhancements/maintenance because of 'the war', but then turned around and provided a 31 billion USD handout to oil companies that are already making multi-billion dollar profits quarterly. Then you have gun toating idiots wrecking havoc, because we need more guns in this country, right NRA? I can already hear their twisted response, 'well, if everyone had a gun, they could defend themselves against the bandits' Right, we all know that the solution to cleaning up an oil slick is to pour more oil on it...
Thankfully, the situation seems to be improving. I just hope that this country learns a lesson from this disaster and is able to grow in a more positive direction.
One final note: it seems ironic to me that the Administration has been on TV and radio telling those who have Labor Day plans (which in the US is 'a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.') to stay home, and not have any inessential travel.
As bad as it is, stop calling it 'our tsunami'. There is a big difference between something that happen with little or no warning and something that happened with several days warning that some people either didn't react to or couldn't react to. Why does there have to be competition over whose natural disaster was worse? They are all horrible and provide an opportunity to see the best (and worst) in people.
In New Orleans, the situation rapidly turned into a Y2K-esque worst case scenario: no power, no water, no communications, armed mobs looting and pillaging with the government unable to respond. Except in this real life scenario, this was not the result of some errant computer software. This was a fatal combination of natural disaster and the worst side of humankind.
Before Katrina hit, it seems that there were those who couldn't move because they didn't have cars or some other means of getting around or out of the city because they are poor. This might have something to do with the fact that the poverty rate in the US has grown to 12.5% under the current administration. Apparently the poor are good enough to fight wars, but not worth rescuing or looking out for properly -- sickening.
Another point that I am struggling with regarding the slow federal response is 'because it is a very complicated situation that no one could have foreseen'. Then how do we account for the Hurricane Pam simulations that showed almost exactly what was going to happen? You might ask yourself how can the international press get camera crews, helicopters, ground transport, etc to freely go in to areas to broadcast (some might say, exploit) those impacted by this disaster, but the government doesn't seem to be as resourceful. Nor does it seem that the press has enough integrity to try to bring in whatever aid they can while covering the events.
The National Guard, who typically play a crucial role in providing swift and effective assistance during natural disasters are hobbled by the fact that 40% of Mississippi's and 35% of Louisiana's National Guard are in Iraq.
This event seems to me to be an example of the current administrations domestic policy writ large: if you have money, you're ok, you can evacuate (you can basically do whatever you want); if you don't, then they really don't give a damn about what happens to you. So you have a situation were the administration cut funding for levee enhancements/maintenance because of 'the war', but then turned around and provided a 31 billion USD handout to oil companies that are already making multi-billion dollar profits quarterly. Then you have gun toating idiots wrecking havoc, because we need more guns in this country, right NRA? I can already hear their twisted response, 'well, if everyone had a gun, they could defend themselves against the bandits' Right, we all know that the solution to cleaning up an oil slick is to pour more oil on it...
Thankfully, the situation seems to be improving. I just hope that this country learns a lesson from this disaster and is able to grow in a more positive direction.
One final note: it seems ironic to me that the Administration has been on TV and radio telling those who have Labor Day plans (which in the US is 'a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.') to stay home, and not have any inessential travel.
posted by rich at 10:05 AM
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