The whole world is watching the horrific and tragic images coming out of New Orleans for the last week. In one terrifying afternoon nature let us know just how insignificant all of our efforts are in the face of hurricane forces. And when the rain stopped, and the wind died, and the residents of New Orleans picked their heads up and began to try to figure out how to put their city back together, nature struck again, destroying the levees that held 500 hundred million gallons of water in check and pouring it with reckless inevitability from lake and river into the city. This was wholesale and irrecoverable destruction. This was the ultimate test, pitting the worst of nature against the best of human nature. And when not only the social structure but the physical structure of civilization was washed away, the true nobility of man, woman and child was revealed. As the entire city became flooded people were reduced to necessary lawlessness, breaking reluctantly into homes, stores and pharmacies to take only what they needed to survive in an emergency situation...clothes, gym shoes, other peoples' personal belongings, electronics, television sets, jewelry, beer, drugs and, of course, all the firearms and ammunition they could carry. But when relief did finally start to make it to New Orleans the citizens welcomed it with gratitude. As rescue helicopters searched the flooded streets for people stranded on rooftops thankful victims fired guns at them in celebration. As the first trucks filled with food and medical supplies for isolated hospitals began to pick their way through town, heavily armed welcoming committees stopped them in the streets. But the greatest example of cooperation, restraint and compassion occurred in the Louisiana Superdome, where 16 or more thousand flood victims found themselves stranded for several days without sanitation and very little by way of supplies. The flood victims distracted themselves by fighting, robbing and raping each other, starting fires and exploiting each other via a speedily organized black market. It is in this spirit that these courageous people hope to start again. As one man was quoted in an Associated Press article... "We've been sleeping on the ... ground like rats. I say burn this whole city down."
that is true for some people but not the majority of them. what about the innocent ones like the children and the animals? are they supposed to be burned to the ground along with the few that are behaving badly? they are sleeping on the ground like rats because they have no other place to sleep. whoever wrote that needs to take into consideration , the innocent. you cant condemn the whole because of the few bad apples
You know, I have thought long and hard about this. There are some poeple who would loot because they can. There are some who would do it because they know there will never be another oppotunity in life to have those items due to being so poor. There are some who do strange things when under stress or just in fear of having no control. Some would do it just to be a rebel. Other would do it because they saw the first one do it, got away with it and thought "what the heck"
By no means am I saying it is ok. I having already stated in other threads I think it is stupid and pointless.....where ya going to take the stuff when you are totally evacuated from the devastation? How are you going to move it?
Anyways, my point being...I think it should all be forgotten and the world needs to focus on survival. This situation has the potential of destroying the "America" we live in. If the racial issues keep growing then the hatred will spread across the US. I am in fear of the future at the moment. The price of fuel and goods is alarming. With the farmers being hurt, the truckers being hurt and now many humans being hurt......what the hell is going to get better at this point?
Again, this isn't directed at anyone!! lol I am again venting!
As far as the original post goes....Tuna...is that something you wrote? I am not completely sure I "get" it. And as far as that quote goes...just to throw out there that the whole city should be burned is somewhat ridiculous. New Orleans is a huge part of our history. We need to wait to see what, if anything, can be saved. Something about the tone of that guys quote irratated me! lol
Tuna I have to ask was that something you wrote or found online?
As for the burning the city down comment. I am sure the person that said that did so out of frustration. I do know that there were quite a few people who said that they were not going to move back to NO for 1 of 2 reasons. One was because of what happened in general the hurricane and the flood. And Two because of the way people in city acted (i.e. the raping, the killing, etc.) they are were/are ashamed.
I have no problem with "looting" as a means of survial. But not stealing t.v.'s and such. That is pointless.
>> stealing - looting ... comes from an instinct for survival ... - some are very poor .. so poor they had no car to get out... and they only Know survival... through barter , pawn shops, and trade.... So I would guess they loot the things .. to them that used to hold monetary value. In shock and not fully in understanding yet ... that there is no value in a TV or stereo...
As for the Violence/ Rapes ... no Excuses ! wrong! and Sick with shame and sadness.
This is another kind of 9-11. Our response was as unpractised. All you guys, esp. MPP, say the right things. It is a social insufficience. Could be we catalog the data and respond better in the future. You know, people are confused... WE NEVER LEFT THE GARDEN We forgot how to manage the Earth we live on. We decided, in individual cases, to profit from decimation. We have now the technology to live in the Garden of Eden... The wetlands that provided a buffer to hurricanes were cleared to put in casinos and walmarts[generalizing, but you know what I mean]. The hurricane, instead of spinning itself out in a wetland, goes straight, unhindered, to the city... Build your garden, beloved...
