Rebirth means Rising from the Ashes
I personally find it heartening that people are starting to try and identify the levels of failures and the context of those failures when related to Katrina. These snippets may seem to be me straining to pat myself on the back; but it’s more in the nature of putting informed other people’s information where my mouth was last week. Do I still think there’s years of work to be done? And lots of details to be sorted through to work out how the wheels came off so badly? Hell yes. I unequivocally believe we’ll be decades dealing with the after shocks of this.
On the sheer scale of Katrina: Before this, FEMA had dealt with 22,000 people in Hurricane Andrew. They've got 254,000 right now that they're dealing with. And they don't know where another 250,000 are, because of private homes and families and friends. - Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman
On the definition of “Slow” federal relief: Jason van Steenwyk is a Florida Army National Guardsman who has been mobilized six times for hurricane relief. He notes that:
"The federal government pretty much met its standard time lines, but the volume of support provided during the 72-96 hour was unprecedented. The federal response here was faster than Hugo, faster than Andrew, faster than Iniki, faster than Francine and Jeanne."
For instance, it took five days for National Guard troops to arrive in strength on the scene in Homestead, Fla. after Hurricane Andrew hit in 1992. But after Katrina, there was a significant National Guard presence in the afflicted region in three.
Overall View: Jay Rosen (Professor of journalism at New York University) has a wonderful quote that sums up how I view the mess of Katrina and its handling. “I think as the story unfolds of who did what, and who failed at what, that the press is going to get deeply into the performance of the state government, and the city, and the federal government. I think there is something to the notion that you leap to this idea that the big guy at the top kind of controls everything, which is what I mean by not thinking.
But I do think that when the facts start coming out about what exactly happened in these six, seven days, how could it fail like that, all governments are going to be investigated. There are going to be scandals at all levels...” I want people to really think about this. To dwell on the fact that there is no such thing as safety, let alone protection from Mama Nature. To stop thinking of government as a safety blanket that removes our need to think and apply common sense. In order for this event to have a positive after affect, we; the entire population (and notice, I’m not saying US citizens or any other divisive grouping) need to get off our collective asses and start working together to build stronger communities. To stop letting people tell us that they’ll take care of us, the poor, the tired, the huddled masses who are yearning to be free …as long as we vote for them. We didn’t believe that when they wanted our school lunch money; so why do believe them now? If you want a better life, you have to work for it. If we want New Orleans, Louisiana, Mississippi, etc back,
WE need to design it, plan for it, and make it happen. You don’t just hand over your money and your rights to someone else and hope they’ll remember to take care of you.
What makes me think this passion is sensible? Because it’s the same passion that made the United States an independent nation. From the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”
The founding fathers were smart enough to realize that when things get bad enough, the only way to fix them is to list, honestly and fairly the complaints of the people and then attempt to fix those problems. So, let’s get back to basics here. The old New Orleans had problems, every city today does. They are usually the same problems. Let’s get them into public eye and wrangle about them. Let’s define what we want the future for that decimated area to be. As we create a plan that we can agree on, as determined by democratic vote; and let’s make it happen. The people who founded the country weren’t willing to “suffer while evils are sufferable”; so why should we? If we want to change the way that area of the country was; we have the perfect opportunity. Don’t fret about what’s gone, we can’t stop the flow of time, we can only appreciate the moment and go forward. We can’t revive the past; but we can create the future. Let’s create a nationwide project to revitalize that section of the country. Let’s apply the best and brightest our generation has to offer and let’s set a shining example of what can be built from the ashes. Let us never waste the blood sweat and tears of the last week on pointless political manoeuvring to avoid moving forward when we can spend that effort revitalizing a dream. Let us make our own Camelot, our own Land of the Free, based on the values WE hold dear and self evident. What the population determines it wants as a whole, no political entity in the world can prevent.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity need to create a better community, a stronger Louisiana and Mississippi (and every other state), a revitalized New Orleans and a tighter connection of fellowship across all state lines, colour divides, gender roles and religious affiliation.
Links to make you think about what we DON’T see all over the news: - http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-kinsley11sep11,0,5939744.column?coll=la-util-op-ed- http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05254/568876.stm- http://www.radioblogger.com/#000967
Posted by dancingblonde
at 6:10 PM PDT
