No one seems to enjoy change. Those that do seem to thrive on it, I think are shifting focus away from what they really want to change. But Change is inevitable.
Take New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. It is going to be changed in a big way. I hear people worried that New Orleans will never be the same. But it never is the same. For all its ancient permanence, there is always something new popping up. It is not a living history museum, but a place where real people work, live and play.
Take for example the Old Absinth House. Absinthe was outlawed. The Bar of that establishment was moved down the street to grace a new place called "The Old Absinthe House Bar" of all things. I went down there not too long ago, and itself have been turned in to a daquiri shop.
The people of that region have endured epidemics, wars, slavery, riots, superbowls, sugar bowls, pirates, carnival and the advent of open container laws. They will get through this, but it will take time. Kind of related to change, our modern society seems to demand instant change.
Most of the complaints about the storm response had to do with how long it took. Granted it seems to me that it took a long time, but I have no frame of reference as to how long it *should* take. I remember when newspapers increased from a quarter to fifty cents. My grad school roommate complained that it was now "too expensive". Compared to what? Sure one hundred percentage price increase is high by any count, but we all should know the cover price is nominal compared to the real cost of printing and distributing the paper, which is bore by the advertisers.
Everyone wants universal health coverage, but they want it to be free. When pressed, not many people will admit that they want to pay for the ER visits of crack addicts arrested for public nuisance.
While I think of it, I do not want to get too far away from my original theme. Planning. Authorities knew this disaster was inevitable. It is quite possible that this disaster may have been on the back burner for many officials, including the president, that had many more items already on their plate. But please. I lived in the New Orleans Metro when I was in high school, and even then they were talking about the devastation a storm such as Katrina could cause. As recently as this year, I saw a show on how it would play out, as well as scenes from the he last great flood of the area.
I cannot blame the government alone. Who are these people but extensions of us, Americans. How many of us let our car's oil level drop below the add a quart line once in a while? How many of us let our check book balance approach a zero once in a while. Who has not run out of gas? People eagerly buy house trailers and move them in areas of anti-trailer weather. Young college boys worry that AIDS is not something that affects their age group, or take false relief that there is some drug therapy available now.
The Teflon coating that makes us, and us alone, to the inevitable shake of the dice is just as guilty of covering the government officials. Prevention is a hard sell. If it works, you never know it did. When I do n not have a mouth full of cavities, am I grateful of all the brushing and flossing I have endured? No, I hate flossing and brushing after every meal. I loathe it. No imagine if I had to pay an extra dollar for each time I did. But I never had to go to the dentist for filings. Would I make the connection, or would I think I had Teflon coated teeth?
Everyone in power hoped and prayed the inevitable would not happen on their watch. Much like the social security crisis. If you listen to the cures for that you will see a "solved until" date that is not all that far in the future. What are we going to do then? Well, I guess since we'll be gone we'll let the kids solve it.
That reminds me of something funny I saw shortly after Y2K. Someone complained that during the upgrade of the computer systems to handle 4 digits, they just laid the groundwork for a Y-Ten-K crisis in the year 9999.
I guess I am just saying we do not need a congressional investigation as to why the response was so muddled, we just need to get that area cleaned up, and make sure we are prepared for the next one. San Francisco earth quake is something a lot of people are in denial about. Supposedly, the last big quake involved a coverup of the true damage. It was white washed away, and many officials understated the true damage. On Cable I saw examples of still damaged buildings from that era. I also saw that the current code violates what scientists learned from the evidence as to what will work.
"We don't want to talk about that" is an insidious attitude. It implies an ignore it and it will go away fallacy that is specious at best. We need to grudgingly accept the reality of change. We are a remarkably adaptive race. In my lifetime I have adapted to new technologies with relative speed and ease. I can program my VCR, wait its not even connected anymore. I can program my cable box to save my favorite shows.
The New Orleans area will change. I hope it is for the better. I also hope they do not get into the "pretend nothing happened" version of restoration. An example of that is when they rebuilt the British houses of parliament, they kept them the same cramped size. As if nothing happened. No Luftwaffe, no Hitler, "sir could you move your elbow?"
--Motto--
Mens conscia recti
-a Mind concious of what is right.
This is the motto on the Phillips coat of arms.
PLEASE STAND BY...
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