Katrina
Pardon the misanthropy, but the psychology, philosophy and sociology case study in New Orleans is looking more and more like a larger, older Lord of the Flies come true.
BBC news reports that "the battle between nature and man is over. The battle between man and man is just beginning." When water and wind tear down even the walls of society, what do we watch? Rioting, rape and pillage. Three of mankind's favorite pastimes in a land that may look like modern day, but think about it: New Orleans - for now - is a dead city, a scary frontier in the form of a poison swamp. No electricity or cars. The modern world is sending in supplies to a city that may as well be in the midst of the Civil War (even they had dry land). And the people are not reacting well. All they have is campfire and the horror stories are playing out around them. I saw a woman on the news ask, in her deep southern drawl, "This is America? You see this happen in third world countries, but here?" Freedom doesn't protect from floods, I'm afraid, and now we have little jihads breaking out all over the south of McWorld.
Poverty and race should also get some air time, as the interior of the Superdome was referred to as "more African than American" by the BBC (again). "The vast majority of them [the survivors] poor, black, and angry." These were the people too poor to leave and now forced to fall back into primal survival instincts among toxic stagnant water. This is the south. This is America.
Any colonel that can win this Battle of New Orleans deserves his face on the $20 bill.
BBC news reports that "the battle between nature and man is over. The battle between man and man is just beginning." When water and wind tear down even the walls of society, what do we watch? Rioting, rape and pillage. Three of mankind's favorite pastimes in a land that may look like modern day, but think about it: New Orleans - for now - is a dead city, a scary frontier in the form of a poison swamp. No electricity or cars. The modern world is sending in supplies to a city that may as well be in the midst of the Civil War (even they had dry land). And the people are not reacting well. All they have is campfire and the horror stories are playing out around them. I saw a woman on the news ask, in her deep southern drawl, "This is America? You see this happen in third world countries, but here?" Freedom doesn't protect from floods, I'm afraid, and now we have little jihads breaking out all over the south of McWorld.
Poverty and race should also get some air time, as the interior of the Superdome was referred to as "more African than American" by the BBC (again). "The vast majority of them [the survivors] poor, black, and angry." These were the people too poor to leave and now forced to fall back into primal survival instincts among toxic stagnant water. This is the south. This is America.
Any colonel that can win this Battle of New Orleans deserves his face on the $20 bill.
posted by Jon at 3:22 AM
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